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CANNIBALS ALL! 



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SLATES WITHOUT MASTERS. 



BY 



GEORGE FITZHUGH, 

OF PORT ROYAL, CAROLINE, VA. 



" His hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against 
him."— Gen. xvi. 12. 

" Physician, heal thyself."— Luke iv. 23. 



RICHMOND, VA. 

A. MORRIS, PUBLISHER. 

1857. 



E^ 



2\ 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by 

ADOLPHUS MORRIS, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States 
for the Eastern District of Virginia. 



C. H. WYNNE, PRINTER, RICHMOND. 






^ CONTENTS. 



TAGE. 

Dedication "^^ii 

Preface ix 

Introduction. xiii 

CHAPTER I. 
The Universal Trade 25 

CHAPTER II. 
Labor, Skill and Capital 33 

CHAPTER III. 

Subject Continued — Exploitation of Skill 58 

CHAPTER IV. 
International Exploitation 75 

CHAPTER V. 
False Philosophy of the Age 79 

CHAPTER VI. 
Free Trade, Fashion and Centralization 86 

CHAPTER VII. 
The ;Yorld is Too Little Governed 97 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Liberty and Slavery 106 



IV CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 
CHAPTER IX. 

Paley on Exploitation , 124 

CHAPTER X. 
Our best Witnesses and Masters in tlie Art of War.... 127 

CHAPTER XI. 

Decay of English Liberty, and growth of English Poor 
Laws 157 

CHAPTER XII. 
The French Laborers and the French Revolution 176 

CHAPTER XIII. 
The Reformation — The Right of Private Judgment 194 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The Nomadic Beggars and Pauper Banditti of England, 204 

CHAPTER XV. 
"Rural Life of England," 218 

CHAPTER XVI. 

The Distressed Needle-Women and Hood's Song of the 
Shirt 223 

CHAPTER XVII. 
The Edinburgh Review on Southern Slavery 236 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
The London Globe on West India Emancipation 274 

C H APTER XIX . 
Protection, and Charity, to the Weak 278 

CHAPTER XX. 
The Family 281 



CONTENTS. V 

PAGE. 
CHAPTER XXI. 

Negro Slavery 294 - 

CHAPTER XXII. 

The Strength of Weakness.... 300 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
Money 303 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Gcrrit Smith on Land Reform, and William Loyd Gar- 
rison on No-Government 306 

CHAPTER XXV. 
In what Anti-Slavery ends 311 - 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Christian Morality impracticable in Free Society — but 
the Natural Morality of Slave Society 316 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
Slavery — Its effects on the Free 320 .. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 
Private Property destroys Liberty and Equality 323 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

The National Era an Excellent Witness 327 

CHAPTER XXX. 

The Philosophy of the Isms — Shewing why they abound 
at the North, and are unknown at the South 332 

CHAPTER XXXI. 
Deficiency of Food in Free Society 335 

CHAPTER XXXII. 
Man has Property in Man 341 



VI CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 

The "Coup de Grace" to Abolition 344 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

National Wealth, Individual Wealth, Luxury and Econ- 
omy 350 

CHAPTER XXXV. 
Government a thing of Force, not of Consent 353 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 
Warning to the North 363 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 
Addendum .., .., 373 



DEDICATION. 



to the honorable henry a. wise. 

Dear Sir: 

I dedicate this work to you, because I am 
acquainted with no one who has so zealously, labori- 
ously and successfully endeavored to Virginianise Vir- 
ginia, by encouraging, through State legislation, her 
intellectual and physical growth and development; no 
one who has seen so clearly the evils of centralization 
from without, and worked so earnestly to cure or avert 
those evils, by building up centralization within. 

Virginia should have her centres of Thought at her 
Colleges and her University, centres of Trade and Man- 
ufactures at her Seaboard and Western towns, and cen- 
tres of Fashion at her Mineral Springs. 

I agree with you, too, that State strength and State 
independence are the best guarantees of State rights; 
and that policy the wisest which most promotes the 
growth of State strength and independence. 



Viii DEDICATION. 

Weakness invites aggression; strength commands re- 
spect; hence, the Union is safest when its separate 
members are best able to repel injury, or to live inde- 
pendently. 

Your attachment to Virginia has not lessened your 
love for the Union. In urging forward to completion 
such works as the Covington and Ohio Road, you are 
trying to add to the wealth, the glory and the strength 
of our own State, whilst you would add equally to the 
wealth, the strength and perpetuity of the Union. 

I cannot commit you to all the doctrines of my book, 
for you will not see it until it is published. 

With very great respect. 

Your obedient servant, 

G-EO. FiTZHUGH. 

Port Royal, Aug. 22, 1856. 



PEBFACE. 



I have endeavored, in this work, to treat the subjects 
of Liberty and Slavery in a more rigidly analytical 
manner thnn in ''Sociology for the South;" and, at the 
same time, to furnish the reader with abundance of 
facts, authorities and admissions, whereby to test the 
truth of my views. 

My chief aim has been to shew, that Labor makes 
values, and Wit exploitates and accumulates them; and 
hence to deduce the conclusion that the unrestricted 
exploitation of so-called free societ}^, is more oppressive 
to the laborer than domestic slavery. 

In making a distinct onslaught on the popular doc- 
trines of Modern Ethics, I must share the credit or 
censure with my corresponding acquaintance and friend, 
Professor H. of Virginia. 

Our acquaintance commenced by his congratulating 
me, by letter, on the announcement that I was occupied 



X PREFACE. 

with a treatise vindicating tlie institution of Slavery in 
the abstract, and by his suggestion, that he foresaw, 
from what he had read of my communications to the 
papers, that I should be compelled to make a general 
assault on the prevalent political and moral philosophy. 
This letter, and others subsequent to it, together with 
the reception of my Book by the Southern Public, have 
induced me in the present work to avow the full breadth 
and scope of my purpose. I am sure it will be easier 
to convince the world that the customary theories of our 
Modern Ethical Philosophy, whether utilitarian or sen- 
timental, are so fallacious or so false in their premises 
and their deductions as to deserve rejection, than to 
persuade it that the social forms under which it lives, 
and attempts to justify and approve, are equally errone- 
ous, and should be re-placed by others founded on a 
broader philosophical system and more Christian prin- 
ciples. 

Yet, I believe that, under the banners of Socialism 
and more dangerous, because more delusive, Semi-Social- 
ism, society is insensibly, and often unconsciously, 
marching to the utter abandonment of the most essential 
institutions — religion, family ties, property, and the re- 
straints of justice. The present profession is, indeed, 
to stop at the half-way house of No-Government and 
Free Love ; but we are sure that it cannot halt and en- 



PREFACE. XI 

camp in such quarters. Society will work out erroneous 
doctrines to their logical consequences, and detect error 
only by the experience of mischief. The world will 
only fall back on domestic slavery when all other social 
forms have failed and been exhausted. That hour may 
not be far off. 

Mr. H. will not see this work before its publication, 
and would dissent from many of its details, from the 
unrestricted latitude of its positions, and from its want 
of precise definition. The time has not yet arrived, in 
my opinion, for such precision, nor will it arrive until 
the present philosophy is seen to be untenable, and we 
begin to look about us for a loftier and more enlightened 
substitute. 



INTEODUGTION. 



In our little work, ^^ Sociology for the South/' we 
said, "We may again appear in the character of writer 
before the public ; but we shall not intrude, and would 
prefer that others should finish the work which we have 
begun/' That little work has met, every where, we 
believe, at the South, with a favorable reception. No 
one has denied its theory of Free Society, nor disputed 
the facts on which that theory rests. Very many able 
co-laborers have arisen, and many books and essays are 
daily appearing, taking higher ground in defence of 
Slavery; justifying it as a normal and natural institu- 
tion, instead of excusing or apologizing for it, as an 
exceptional one. It is now treated as a positive good, 
not a necessary evil. The success, not the ability of 
our essay, may have had some influence in eliciting 
this new mode of defence. We have, for many years, 
been gradually and cautiously testing public opinion at 
the South, and have ascertained that it is ready to ap- 



XIV INTRODUCTION. 

prove, and much prefers, the highest ground of defence. 
We have no peculiar fitness for the work we are engaged 
in, except the confidence that we address a public pre- 
disposed to approve our doctrines, however bold or novel. 
Heretofore the great difficulty in defending Slavery has 
arisen from the fear that the public would take offence 
at assaults on its long-cherished political axioms ; which, 
nevertheless, stood in the way of that defence. It is 
now evident that those axioms have outlived their day — 
for no one, either North or South, has complained of 
our rather ferocious assault on them — much less at- 
tempted to reply to or refute our arguments and objec- 
tions. All men begin very clearly to perceive, that the 
state of revolution is politically and socially abnormal 
and exceptional, and that the principles that would 
justify it are true in the particular, false in the general. 
^*A recurrence to fundamental principles," by an op- 
pressed people, is treason if it fails; the noblest of 
heroism if it eventuates in successful revolution. But 
a "frequent recurrence to fundamental principles'^ is at 
war with the continued existence of all government, 
and is a doctrine fit to be sported only by the Isms of 
the North and the Red Republicans of Europe. "With 
them no principles are considered established and sacred, 
nor will ever be. When, in time of revolution, society 
is partially disbanded, disintegrated and dissolved, the 



INTRODUCTION. XV 



doctrine of Human Equality may have a hearing, and 
may be useful in stimulating rebellion j but it is prac- 
tically impossible, and directly conflicts with all gov- 
ernment, all separate property, and all social existence. 
We cite these two examples, as instances, to shew how 
the wisest and best of men are sure to deduce, as gen- 
eral principles, what is only true as to themselves and 
their peculiar circumstances. Never were people blessed 
with such wise and noble Institutions as we ; for they 
combine most that was good in those of Rome and 
G-reece, of Judea, and of Mediaeval England. But the 
mischievous absurdity of our political axioms and prin- 
ciples quite equals the wisdom and conservatism of our 
political practices. The ready appreciation by the pub- 
lic of such doctrines as these, encourages us to persevere 
in writing. The silence of the North is far more en- 
couraging, however, than the approbation of the South. 
Piqued and taunted for two years, by many Southern 
Presses of high standing, to deny the proposition that 
Free Society in Western Europe is a failure, and that it 
betrays premonitory symptoms of failure, even in Amer- 
ica, the North is silent, and thus tacitly admits the 
charge. Challenged to compare and weigh the advan- 
tages and disadvantages of our domestic slavery with 
their slavery of the masses to capital and skill, it is 
mute, and neither accepts nor declines our challenge. 



XVI INTRODUCTION. 

The comparative evils of Slave Society and of Free So- 
ciety, of slavery to human Masters and of slavery to 
Capital, are the issues which the South now presents, and 
which the North avoids. And she avoids them, because 
the Abolitionists, the only assailants of Southern Slavery, 
have, we believe, to a man, asserted the entire failure of 
their own social system, proposed its subversion, and sug- 
gested an approximating millenium, or some system of 
Free Love, Communism, or Socialism, as a substitute. 

The alarming extent of this state of public opinion, 
or, to speak more accurately, the absence of any public 
opinion, or common faith and conviction about anything, 
is not dreamed of at the South, nor fully and properly 
realized, even at the North. We cannot believe what 
is so entirely different from all our experience and obser- 
vation, and thet/ have become familiarized and inattentive 
to the infected social atmosphere they continually inhale. 
Besides, living in the midst of the isms, their situation 
is not favorable for comprehensive observation or calm 
generalization. More than a year since, we made a short 
trip to the North, and whilst there only associated with 
distinguished Abolitionists. We have corresponded much 
with them, before and since, and read many of their 
books, lectures, essays and speeches. We have neither 
seen nor heard any denial by them of the failure of their 
own social system ; but, on the contrary, found that they 



INTRODUCTION. XvU 

all concurred in the necessity of radical social changes. 
'Tis true, in conversation, they will say, ^^Our system of 
society is bad, but yours of the South is worse; the 
cause of social science is advancing, and we are ready to 
institute a system better than either.'' We could give 
many private anecdotes, and quote thousands of authori- 
ties, to prove that such is the exact state of opinion with 
the multitudinous isms of the North. The correctness 
of our statement will not be denied. If it is, any one 
may satisfy himself of its truth by reading any Aboli- 
tion or Infidel paper at the North for a single month. 
The Liberator, of Boston, their ablest paper, gives con- 
tinually the fullest expose of their opinions, and of their 
wholesale destructiveness of purpose. 

The neglect of the North to take issue with us, or 
with the Southern Press, in the new positions which we 
have assumed, our own observations of the working of 
Northern society, the alarming increase of Socialism, as 
evinced by its control of many Northern State Legisla- 
tures, and its majority in the lower house of Congress, 
are all new proofs of the truth of our doctrine. The 
character of that majority in Congress is displayed in 
full relief, by the single fact, which we saw stated in a 
Northern Abolition paper, that ^Hhere are a hundred 
Spiritual Rappers in Congress.'' A Northern member 
of Congress made a similar remark to us a few days 



XVlU INTRODUCTION. 

since. 'Tis but a copy of the Hiss Legislature of Massa- 
cliiisetts, or the Praise-God-Barebones Parliament of 
England. Further study, too, of Western European So- 
ciety, which has been engaged in continual revolution for 
twenty years, has satisfied us that Free Society every 
where begets isms, and that isms soon beget bloody revo- 
lutions. Until our trip to the North, we did not justly 
appreciate the passage which we are about to quote from 
Mr. Carlyle's '' Latter-Day Pamphlets." Now it seems 
to us as if Boston, New Haven, or Western New York, 
had set for the picture : 

" To rectify the relation that exists between two men, 
is there no method, then, but that of ending it ? The 
old relation has become unsuitable, obsolete, perhaps un- 
just; and the remedy is, abolish it; let there henceforth 
be no relation at all. From the ^sacrament of marriage' 
downwards, human beings used to be manifoldly related 
one to another, and each to all ; and there was no relation 
among human beings, just or unjust, that had not its 
grievances and its difficulties, its necessities on both sides 
to bear and forbear. But henceforth, be it known, we 
have changed all that by favor of Heaven ; the ^ voluntary 
principle' has come up, which will itself do the business 
for us ; and now let a new sacrament, that of Divorce^ 
which we call emancipation, and spout of on our plat- 
forms, be universally the order of the day ! Have men 
considered whither all this is tending, and what it cer- 
tainly enough betokens ? Cut every human relation that 



INTRODUCTION. XIX 

has any wliero grown uneasy slieer asunder; reduce 
■whatsoever was compulsory to voluntary, whatsoever was 
permanent among us to the condition of the nomadic ; 
in other words, loosen by assiduous wedges, in e.ery 
joint, the whole fabrice of social existence, stone from 
stone, till at last, all lie now quite loose enough, it can, 
as we already see in most countries, be overset by sudden 
outburst of revolutionary rage ; and lying as mere moun- 
tains of anarchic rubbish, solicit you to sing Fraternity, 
&c. over it, and rejoice in the now remarkable era of hu- 
man progress we have arrived at/' 

Now we plant ourselves on this passage from Carlyle. 
We say that, as far as it goes, 'tis a faithful picture of 
the isms of the North. But the restraints of Law and 
Public Opinion are less at the North than in Europe. 
The isms on each side the Atlantic are equally busy with 
"assiduous wedges," in "loosening in every joint the 
whole fabric of social existence/' but whilst they dare 
invoke Anarchy in Europe, they dare not inaugurate 
New York Free Love, and Oneida Incest, and Mormon 
Polygamy. The moral, religious, and social heresies of 
the North, are more monstrous than those of Europe. 
The pupil has surpassed the master, unaided by the stim- 
ulants of poverty, hunger and nakedness, which urge 
the master forward. 

Society need not fail in the North-east until the whole 
West is settled; and a refluent population, or excess of 



XX INTRODUCTION. 

immigration, overstocks permanently tlie labor market on 
tlie Atlantic board. Till then, the despotism of skill 
and capital, in forcing emigration to the West, makes 
proprietors of those emigrants, benefits them, peoples the 
West, and by their return trade, enriches the East. The 
social forms of the North and the South are, for the 
present, equally promotive of growth and prosperity at 
home, and equally beneficial to mankind at large, by 
affording asylums to the oppressed, and by furnishing 
food and clothing to all. Northern society is a partial 
failure, but only because it generates isms which threaten 
it with overthrow and impede its progress. 

Despite of appearing vain and egotistical, we cannot 
refrain from mentioning another circumstance that en- 
courages us to write. At the very time when we were 
writing our pamphlet entitled ^^ Slavery Justified,^' in 
which we took ground that Free Society had failed, Mr. 
Carlyle began to write his " Latter Day Pamphlets,'' 
whose very title is the assertion of the failure of Free 
Society. The proof derived from this coincidence be- 
comes the stronger, when it is perceived that an ordinary 
man on this side the Atlantic discovered and was expos- 
ing the same social phenomena that an extraordinary one 
had discovered and was exposing on the other. The 
very titles of our works are synonymous — for the "Latter 
Day" is the "Failure of Society.'' 



INTRODUCTION. XXI 

Mr. Carlyle, and Miss Fanny Wright (in her England 
the Civilizer) vindicate Slavery by shewing that each of 
its apparent relaxations in England has injured the la- 
boring class. They were fully and ably represented in 
Parliament by their ancient masters, the Barons. Since 
the Throne, and the Church, and the Nobility, have been 
stripped of their power, and a House of Commons, rep- 
resenting lands and money, rules despotically, the masses 
have become outlawed. They labor under all the disad- 
vantages of slavery, and have none of the rights of 
slaves. This is the true history of the English Consti- 
tution, and one which we intend, in the sequel, more 
fully to expound. This presents another reason why we 
again appear before the public. Blackstone, which is 
read by most American gentlemen, teaches a doctrine the 
exact reverse of this, and that doctrine we shall try to 
refute. 

Returning from tbe North, we procured in New York 
a copy of Aristotle's "Politics and Economics." To our 
surprise, we found that our theory of the origin of soci- 
ety was identical with his, and that we had employed not 
only the same illustrations, but the very same words. 
We saw at once that the true vindication of slavery must 
be founded on his theory of man's social nature, as op- 
posed to Locke's theory of the Social Contract, on which 



XXll INTRODUCTION. 

latter Free Society rests for support. 'Tis true we had 
broached this doctrine; but with the world at large 
our authority was merely repulsive, whilst the same doe- 
trine, coming from Aristotle, had, besides his name, two 
thousand years of human approval and concurrence in its 
favor; for, without that concurrence and approval, his 
book would have long since perished. 

In addition to all this, we think we have discovered 
that Moses has anticipated the Socialists, and that in pro- 
hibiting "usury of money, and of victuals, and of all 
things that are lent on usury," and in denouncing " in- 
crease'' he was far wiser than Aristotle, and saw that 
other capital or property did not " breed " any more than 
money, and that its profits were unjust exactions levied 
from the laboring man. The Socialists proclaim this as 
a discovery of their own. We think Moses discovered 
and proclaimed it more than three thousand years ago — 
and that it is the only true theory of capital and labor, 
the only adequate theoretical defence of Slavery — for it 
proves that t he profits which capital exacts from lab or 
makes free laborers slaves, without the ri ghts, privileges 
or advantages of domestic slaves, and capitalists their 
masters, with all the advantages, and none of the bur- 
dens and obligations of the ordinary owners of slaves. 

The scientific title of this work would be best ex- 
pressed by the conventional French term ^^Exploitation.'' 



INTRODUCTION. xxiii 

"We endeavor to translate by the double periphrases of 
"Cannibals All; or, Slaves without Masters.'^ 

We have been imprudent enough to write our Intro- 
duction first, and may fail to satisfy the expectations 
which we excite. Our excess of candor must, in that 
event, in part supply our deficiency of ability. 



CANNIBALS ALL! 



CHAPTER I. 

THE UNIVERSAL TRADE. 

We are, all, North and South, engaged in the 
White Slave Trade, and he who succeeds best, is 
esteemed most respectable. It is far more cruel 
than the Black Slave Trade, because it exacts more 
of its slaves, and neither protects nor governs them. 
We boast, that it exacts more, when we saj, "that 
the profits made from employing free labor are 
greater than those from slave labor." The profits, 
made from free labor, are the amount of the pro- 
ducts of such labor, which the employer, by means 
of the command which capital or skill gives him, 
takes away, exacts or " exploitates " from the free 
laborer. The profits of slave labor are that portion 
of the products of such labor which the power of 
the master enables him to appropriate. These pro- 
fits are less, because the master allows the slave to 
retain a larger share of the results of his own labor, 
than do the employers of free labor. But we not 

9 



26 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

only boast that the White Slave Trade is more ex- 
acting and fraudulent (in fact, though not in inten- 
tion,) than Black Slavery ; but we also boast, that it 
is more cruel, in leaving the laborer to take care of 
himself and family out of the pittance which skill 
or capital have allowed him to retain. When the 
day's labor is ended, he is free, but is overburdened 
with the cares of family and household, which make 
his freedom an empty and delusive mockery. But 
his employer is really free, and may enjoy the pro- 
fits made by others' labor, without a care, or a 
trouble, as to their well-being. The negro slave 
is free, too, when the labors of the day are over, 
and free in mind as well as body ; for the master 
provides food, raiment, house, fuel, and everything 
else necessary to the physical well-being of himself 
and family. The master's labors commence just 
when the slave's end. No wonder men should pre- 
fer white slavery to capital, to negro slavery, since 
it is more profitable, and is free from all the cares 
and labors of black slave-holding. 

Now, reader, if you wish to know yourself — to 
"descant on. your own deformity" — read on. But 
if you would cherish self-conceit, self-esteem, or 
self-appreciation, throw down our book ; for we 
will dispel illusions which have promoted your hap- 
piness, and shew you that what you have considered 
and practiced as virtue, is little better than moral 
Cannibalism. But you will find yourself in numer- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 27 

ous and respectable company; for all good and 
respectable people are "Cannibals all," who do not 
labor, or who are successfully trying to live without 
labor, on the unrequited labor of other people : — 
Whilst low, bad, and disreputable people, are those 
who labor to support themselves, and to support 
said respectable people besides. Throwing the ne- 
gro slaves out of the account, and society is divided 
in Christendom into four classes : The rich, or inde- 
pendent respectable people, who live well and labor 
not at alt; the professional and skillful respectable 
people, who do a little light work, for enormous 
wages ; the poor hard-working people, who support 
every body, and starve themselves ; and the poor 
thieves, swindlers and sturdy beggars, who live like 
gentlemen, without labor, on the labor of other 
people. The gentlemen exploitate, which being 
done on a large scale, and requiring a great many 
victims, is highly respectable — whilst the rogues 
and beggars take so little from others, that they 
fare little better than those who labor. 

But, reader, we do not wish to fire into the flock. 
"Thou art the man!" You are a Cannibal! and 
if a successful one, pride yourself on the number 
of your victims, quite as much as any Feejee chief- 
tain, who breakfasts, dines and sups on human 
flesh. — And joiiv conscience smites you, if you 
have failed to succeed, quite as much as his, when 
he returns from an unsuccessful foray. 



28 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

Probably, you are a lawyer, or a merchant, or a 
doctor, who have made by your business fifty thou- 
sand dollars, and retired to live on your capital. 
But, mark ! not to spend your capital. That would 
be vulgar, disreputable, criminal. That would be, 
to live by your own labor ; for your capital is your 
amassed labor. That would be, to do as common 
working men do ; for they take the pittance which 
their employers leave them, to live on. They live 
by labor; for they exchange the results of their 
own labor for the products of other people s labor. 
It is, no doubt, an honest, vulgar way of living ; 
but not at all a respectable way. The respectable 
way of living is, to make other people work for 
you, and to pay them nothing for so doing — and to 
have no concern about them after their work is 
done. Hence, white slave-holding is much more 
respectable than negro slavery — for the master 
works nearly as hard for the negro, as he for the 
master. But you, my virtuous, respectable reader, 
exact three thousand dollars per annum from white 
labor, (for your income is the product of white la- 
bor,) and make not one cent of return in any form. 
You retain your capital, and never labor, and yet 
live in luxury on the labor of others. Capital 
commands labor, as the master does the slave. 
Neither pays for labor ; but the master permits the 
slave to retain a larger allowance from the proceeds 
of his own labor, and hence "free labor is cheaper 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 29 

than slave labor." You, with the command over 
labor which your capital gives you, are a slave 
OAvner — a master, without the obligations of a mas- 
ter. They who work for you, who create your 
income, are slaves, without the rights of slaves. 
Slaves without a master ! Whilst you were engaged 
in amassing your capital, in seeking to become in- 
dependent, you were in the White Slave Trade. 
To become independent, is to be able to make other 
people support you, without being obliged to labor 
for them. Now, what man in society is not seeking 
to attain this situation ? He who attains it, is a 
slave owner, in the worst sense. He who is in pur- 
suit of it, is engaged in the slave trade. You, 
reader, belong to the one or other class. The men 
without property, in free society, are theoretically 
in a worse condition than slaves. Practically, their 
condition corresponds with this theory, as history 
and statistics every where demonstrate. The capi- 
talists, in free society, live in ten times the luxury 
and show that Southern masters do, because the 
slaves to capital work harder and cost less, than 
negro slaves. 

The negro slaves of the South are the happiest, 
and, in some sense, the freest people in the world. 
The children and the aged and infirm work not at 
all, and yet have all the comforts and necessaries of 
life provided for them. They enjoy liberty, be- 
cause they are oppressed neither by care nor labor. 



30 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

The women do little hard work, and are protected 
from the despotism of their husbands by their mas- 
ters. The negro men and stout boys work, on the 
average, in good weather, not more than nine hours 
a day. The balance of their time is spent in per- 
fect abandon. Besides, they have their Sabbaths 
and holidays. White men, with so much of license 
and liberty, would die of ennui ; but negroes luxu- 
riate in corporeal and mental repose. With their 
faces upturned to the sun, they can sleep at any 
hour ; and quiet sleep is the greatest of human en- 
joyments. ^'Blessed be the man who invented 
sleep." 'Tis happiness in itself — and results from 
contentment with the present, and confident assur- 
ance of the future. We do not know whether free 
laborers ever sleep. They are fools to do so ; for, 
whilst they sleep, the wily and watchful capitalist 
is devising means to ensnare and exploitate them. 
The free laborer must work or starve. He is more 
of a slave than the negro, because he works longer 
and harder for less allowance than the slave, and 
has no holiday, because the cares of life with him 
begin when its labors end. He has no liberty, and 
not a single right. We know, 'tis often said, air 
and water, are common property, which all have 
equal right to participate and enjoy ; but this is 
utterly false. The appropriation of the lands car- 
ries with it the appropriation of all on or above the 
lands, usque ad coelum, aut ad inferos. A man 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 31 

cannot breathe the air, without a place to breathe 
it from, and all places are appropriated. All water 
is private property "to the middle of the stream,'* 
except the ocean, and that is not fit to drink. 

Free laborers have not a thousandth part of the 
rights and liberties of negro slaves. Indeed, they 
have not a single right or a single liberty, unless it 
be the right or liberty to die. But the reader may 
think that he and other capitalists and employers 
are freer than negro slaves. Your capital would 
soon vanish, if you dared indulge in the liberty and 
abandon of negroes. You hold your wealth and 
position by the tenure of constant watchfulness, 
care and circumspection. You never labor; but 
you are never free. 

Where a few own the soil, they have unlimited 
power over the balance of society, until domestic 
slavery comes in, to compel them to permit this 
balance of society to draw a sufficient and comfort- 
able living from "terra mater." Free society, as- 
serts the right of a few to the earth — slavery, main- 
tains that it belongs, in different degrees, to all. 

But, reader, well may you follow the slave trade. 
It is the only trade worth following, and slaves the 
only property worth owning. All other is worth- 
less, a mere caput mortuum, except in so far as it 
vests the ov,^ner with the power to command the 
labors of others — to enslave them. Give you a 
palace, ten thousand acres of land, sumptuous 



82 CANNIBALS ALL ; OR 



clothes, equipage and every other luxury ; and with 
your artificial wants, you are poorer than Robinson 
Crusoe, or the lowest working man, if you have no 
slaves to capital, or domestic slaves. Your capital 
will not bring you an income of a cent, nor supply 
one of your wants, without labor. Labor is indis- 
pensable to give value to property, and if you 
owned every thing else, and did not own labor, you 
would be poor. But fifty thousand dollars means, 
and is, fifty thousand dollars worth of slaves. You 
can command, without touching on that capital, 
three thousand dollars' worth of labor per annum. 
You could do no more were you to buy slaves with 
it, and then you would be cumbered with the cares 
of governing and providing for them. You are a 
slaveholder now, to the amount of fifty thousand 
dollars, with all the advantages, and none of the 
cares and responsibilities of a master. 

*' Property in man" is what all are struggling to 
obtain. Why should they not be obliged to take 
care of man, their property, as they do of their 
horses and their hounds, their cattle and their 
sheep. Now, under the delusive name of liber- 
ty, you work him, "from morn to dewy eve" — 
from infancy to old age — then turn him out to 
starve. You treat your horses and hounds better. 
Capital is a cruel master. The free slave trade, 
the commonest, yet the cruellest of trades. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 33 



CHAPTER II. 

LABOR, SKILL AND CAPITAL. 

Nothing -written on tlie subject of slavery from 
the time of Aristotle, is worth reading, until the 
days of the modern Socialists. Nobody, treating of 
it, thought it worth while to enquire from history and 
statistics, whether the physical and moral condition 
of emancipated serfs or slaves had been improved or 
rendered worse by emancipation. None would con- 
descend to compare the evils of domestic slavery 
with the evils of liberty without property. It en- 
tered no one's head to conceive a doubt as to the 
actual freedom of the emancipated. The relations 
of capital and labor, of the property-holders to the 
non-property-holders, were things about which no 
one had thought or written. It never occurred to 
either the enemies or the apologists for slavery, 
that if no one would employ the free laborer, his 
condition was infinitely worse than that of actual 
slavery — nor did it occur to them, that if his wages 
were less than the allowance of the slave, he was 
less free after emancipation than before. St. Si- 
mon, Fourier, Owen, Fanny Wright, and a few 
others, who discovered and proclaimed that prop- 



34 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

erty was not only a bad master, but an intolerable 
one, were treated as wicked visionaries. After the 
rrench and other revolutions iii Western Europe in 
1830, all men suddenly discovered that the social 
relations of men were false, and that social, not po- 
litical, revolutions were needed. Since that period, 
almost the whole literature of free society is but a 
voice proclaiming its absolute and total failure. 
Hence the works of the socialists contain the true 
defence of slavery. 

Most of the active intellect of Christendotn has 
for the last twenty years been engaged in analyzing, 
detecting and exposing the existing relations of la- 
bor, skill and capital, and in vain efforts to rectify 
those relations. The philosophers of Europe, who 
have been thus engaged, have excelled all the moral 
philosophers that preceded them, in the former part 
of their pursuit, but suggested nothing but puerile 
absurdities, in the latter. Their destructive philo- 
sophy is profound, demonstrative, and unanswera- 
ble — their constructive theories, wild, visionary and 
chimerical on paper, and failures in practice. Each 
one of them proves clearly enough, that the present 
edifice of European society is out of all rule and 
proportion, and must soon tumble to pieces — but no 
two agree as to how it is to be re-built. " We must 
(say they all) have a new world, if we are to have 
any world at all !" and each has a little model Uto- 
pia or Phalanstery, for this new and better world, 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 35 

which, having already failed on a small experimental 
scale, the inventor assures us, is, therefore, the very 
thing to succeed on a large one. We allude to the 
socialists and communists, who have more or less 
tinged all modern literature with their doctrines. 
In analyzing society ; in detecting, exposing, and 
generalizing its operations and its various pheno- 
mena, they are but grammarians or anatomists, con- 
fining philosophy to its proper sphere, and em- 
ploying it for useful purposes. When they attempt 
to go further — and having found the present social 
system to be fatally diseased, propose to originate 
and build up another in its stead — they are as pre- 
sumptuous as the anatomist, who should attempt to 
create a man. Social bodies, like human bodies, 
are the works of God, which man may dissect, 
and sometimes heal, but which he cannot create. 
Society was not always thus diseased, or socialism 
would have been as common in the past as it is 
now. We think these presumptuous philosophers 
had best compare it in its healthy state with what it 
is now, and supply deficiencies or lop ofi* excrescen- 
cies, as the comparison may suggest. But our pre- 
sent business is to call attention to some valuable 
discoveries in the terra firma of social science, 
which these socialists have made in their vain voy- 
ages in search of an ever receding and illusory 
Utopia. Like the alchymists, although they have 
signally failed in the objects of their pursuits, they 



36 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

have incidentally hit upon truths, unregarded and 
unprized by themselves, which will be valuable in 
the hands of more practical and less sanguine men. 
It is remarkable, that the political economists, who 
generally assume labor to be the most just and cor- 
rect measure of value, should not have discovered 
that the profits of capital represent no labor at all. 
To be consistent, the political economists should de- 
nounce as unjust all interests, rents, dividends and 
other profits of capital. We mean by rents, that 
portion of the rent which is strictly income. The 
amount annually required for repairs and ultimately 
to rebuild the house, is not profit. Four per cent, 
will do this. A rent of ten per cent, is in such case 
a profit of six per cent. The four per cent, is but 
a return to the builder of his labor and capital 
spent in building. "The use of a thing, is only 
a fair subject of change, in so far as the article 
used is consumed in the use ; for such consumption 
is the consumption of the labor or capital of the 
owner, and is but the exchange of equivalent 
amounts of labor." 

These socialists, having discovered that skill and 
capital, by means of free competition, exercise an 
undue mastery over labor, propose to do away 
with skill, capital, and free competition, altogether. 
They would heal the diseases of society by de- 
stroying its most vital functions. Having laid 
down the broad proposition, that equal amounts 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 37 

of labor, or their results, should be exchanged for 
each other, they get at the conclusion that as the 
profits of capital are not the results of labor, the 
capitalist shall be denied all interest or rents, or 
other profits on his capital, and be compelled in all 
cases to exchange a part of the capital itself, for 
labor, or its results. This would prevent accumula- 
tion, or at least limit it to the procurement of the 
coarsest necessaries of life. They say, " the law- 
yer and the artist do not work so hard and continu- 
ously as the ploughman, and should receive less 
wages than he — a bushel of wheat represents as 
much labor as a speech or portrait, and should be 
exchanged for the one or the other." Such a sys- 
tem of trade and exchange would equalize condi- 
tions, but would banish civilization. Yet do these 
men show, that, by means of the taxation and op- 
pression, which capital and skill exercise over labor, 
the rich, the professional, the trading and skillful 
part of society, have become the masters of the 
laboring masses : whose condition, already intolera- 
ble, is daily becoming worse. They point out dis- 
tinctly the character of the disease under which 
the patient is laboring, but see no way of curing 
the disease except by killing the patient. 

In the preceding chapter, we illustrated their 
theory of capital by a single example. We might 
give hundreds of illustrations, and yet the subject 
is so difficult that few readers will take the trouble 



38 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

to understand it. Let us take two well known his- 
torical instances : England became possessed of two 
fine islands, Ireland and Jamaica. Englishmen 
took away, or defrauded, from the Irish, their lands ; 
but professed to leave the people free. The people, 
however, must have the use of land, or starve. The 
English charged them, in rent, so much, that their 
allowance, after deducting that rent, was not half 
that of Jamaica slaves. They were compelled to 
labor for their landlords, by the fear of hunger and 
death — forces stronger than the overseer's lash. 
They worked more, and did not get half so much 
pay or allowance as the Jamaica negroes. All the 
reports to the French and British Parliaments show 
that the physical wants of the West India slaves 
were well supplied. The Irish became the subjects 
of capital — slaves, with no masters obliged by law, 
self-interest or domestic affections, to provide for 
them. The freest people in the world, in the loose 
and common sense of words, their condition, moral, 
physical and religious, was far worse than that of 
civilized slaves ever has been or ever can be — for at 
length, after centuries of slow starvation, three 
hundred thousand perished in a single season, for 
want of food. Englishmen took the lands of Ja- 
maica also, but introduced negro slaves, whom they 
were compelled to support at all seasons, and at 
any cost. The negroes were comfortable, until phi- 
lanthropy taxed the poor of England and Ireland 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 39 

a hundred millions to free them. Now, they enjoy 
Irish liberty, whilst the English hold all the good 
lands. They are destitute and savage, and in all 
respects worse oiF than when in slavery. 

Public opinion unites with self-interest, domestic 
affection and municipal law to protect the slave. 
The man who maltreats the weak and dependant, 
who abuses his authority over wife, children or slaves, 
is universally detested. That same public opinion, 
which shields and protects the slave, encourages the 
oppression of free laborers — for it is considered 
more honorable and praiseworthy to obtain large 
fees than small ones, to make good bargains than 
bad ones, (and all fees and profits come ultimately 
from common laborers) — to live without work, by 
the exactions of accumulated capital, than to labor 
at the plough or the spade, for one's living. It is 
the interest of the capitalist and the skillful to 
allow free laborers the least possible portion of the 
fruits of their own labor ; for all capital is created 
by labor, and the smaller the allowance of the free 
laborer, the greater the gains of his employer. To 
treat free laborers badly and unfairly, is universally 
inculcated as a moral duty, and the selfishness of 
man's nature prompts him to the most rigorous per- 
formance of this cannibalish duty. We appeal to 
political economy; the ethical, social, political and 
economic philosophy of free society, to prove the 
truth of our doctrines. As an ethical and social 



40 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

guide, that philosopliy teaches, that social, indivi- 
dual and national competition, is a moral duty, and 
we have attempted to prove that all competition is 
but the effort to enslave others, without being en- 
cumbered with their support. As a political guide, 
it would simply have government 'keep the peace;' 
or, to define its doctrine more exactly, it teaches 
*' that it is the whole duty of government to hold 
the weak whilst the strong rob them" — for it pun- 
ishes crimes accompanied with force, which none 
but the weak-minded commit ; but encourages the 
war of the wits, in which the strong and astute 
are sure to succeed, in stripping the weak and 
ignorant. 

It is time, high time, that political economy was 
banished from our schools. But what would this 
avail in free society, where men's antagonistic rela- 
tions suggest to each one, without a teacher, that 
*' he can only be just to himself, by doing wrong to 
others." Aristotle, and most other ancient phi- 
losophers and statesmen, held the doctrine, " that 
as money would not breed, interest should not be 
allowed." Moses, no doubt, saw as the modern so- 
cialists do, that all other capital stood on the sa.me 
grounds with money. !N"one of it is self-creative, 
or will "breed." The language employed about 
" usury" and "increase" in 25th Leviticus, and 23d 
Deuteronomy, is quite broad enough to embrace and 
prohibit all profits of capital. Such interest or 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 41 

"increase," or profits, might be charged to the 
Heathen, but not to the Jews. The whole arrange- 
ments of Moses were obviously intended to prevent 
competition in the dealings of the Jews with one 
another, and to beget permanent equality of condi- 
tion and fraternal feelings. 

The socialists have done one great good. They 
enable us to understand and appreciate the institu- 
tions of Moses, and to see, that none but Divinity 
could have originated them.* The situation of Ju- 
dea was, in many respects, anomalous, and w^e are 
not to suppose that its political and social relations 
were intended to be universal. Yet, here it is dis- 
tinctly asserted, that under certain circumstances, 
all profits on capital are wrong. 

The reformers of the present day are all teeto- 
talists, and attempt to banish evil altogether, not 



* Not only does Moses evince his knowledge of the despotism 
of capital, in forbidding its profits, but also in his injunction, 
not to let emancipated slaves "go away empty." Deuteronomy 
XV. 13, 14. 

"And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt 
not let him go away empty. Thou shalt furnish him liberally 
out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy wine-press: 
of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt 
give unto him." 

People without property exposed to the unrestricted exactions 
of capital are infinitely worse ofl" after emancipation than before. 
Moses prevented the exactions of capital by providing property 
for the new free man. 



42 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

to lessen or restrict it. It would be wiser to as- 
sume tliat there is nothing, in its essence, evil, in the 
moral or physical world, but only rendered so by 
the wrongful applications which men make of them. 
Science is every day discovering that the most fatal 
poisons, when properly employed, become the most 
efficacious medicines. So, what appear to be the 
evil passions and propensities of men, and of socie- 
ties, under proper regulation, may be made to min- 
ister to the wisest and best of purposes. Civilized 
society has never been found without that competi- 
tion begotten by man's desire to throw most of the 
burdens of life on others, and to enjoy the fruits of 
their labors without exchanging equivalent labor of 
his own. In all such societies, (outside the Bible,) 
such selfish and grasping appropriation is incul- 
cated as a moral duty ; and he who succeeds best, 
either by the exercise of professional skill, or by 
accumulation of capital, in appropriating the labor 
of others, without laboring in return, is considered 
most meritorious. It would be unfair, in treating of 
the relations of capital and labor, not to consider its 
poor-house system, the ultimate resort of the poor. 
The taxes or poor rates which support this sys- 
tem of relief, like all other taxes and values, are 
derived from the labor of the poor. The able- 
bodied, industrious poor are compelled by the rich 
• and skillful to support the weak, and too often, the 
idle poor. In addition to defraying the necessary 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 43 

expenses and the wanton luxuries of the rich, to 
supporting government, and supporting themselves, 
capital compels them to support its poor houses. In 
collection of the poor rates, in their distribution, 
and in the administration of the poor-house system, 
probably half the tax raised for the poor is ex- 
hausted. Of the remainder, possibly another half 
is expended on unworthy objects. Masters, in like 
manner, support the sick, infant and aged slaves from 
the labor of the strong and healthy. But nothing is 
wasted in collection and administration, and nothing 
given to unworthy objects. The master having 
the control of the objects of his bounty, takes care 
that they shall not become burdensome by their own 
crimes and idleness. It is contrary to all human 
customs and legal analogies, that those who are de- 
pendent, or are likely to become so, should not be 
controlled. The duty of protecting the weak in- 
volves the necessity of enslaving them — hence, in 
all countries, woffien and children, wards and ap- 
prentices, have been essentially slaves, controlled, 
not by law, but by the will of a superior. This is 
a fatal defect in the poor-house system. Many 
men become paupers from their own improvidence 
or misconduct, and masters alone can prevent such 
misconduct and improvidence. Masters treat their 
sick, infant and helpless slaves well, not only from 
feeling and affection, but from motives of self-inter- 
est. Good treatment renders them more valuable. 



44 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

All poor houses, are administered on the peniten- 
tiary system, in order to deter the poor from re- 
sorting to them. Besides, masters are always in 
place to render needful aid to the unfortunate and 
helpless slaves. Thousands of the poor starve out 
of reach of che poor house, or other public charity. 
A common charge preferred against slavery is, 
that it induces idleness with the masters. The 
trouble, care and labor, of providing for wife, chil- 
dren and slaves, and of properly governing and 
administering the whole aifairs of the farm, is usu- 
ally borne on small estates by the master. On 
larger ones, he is aided by an overseer or manager. 
If they do their duty, their time is fully occupied. 
If they do not, the estate goes to ruin. The mis- 
tress, on Southern farms, is usually more busily, 
usefully and benevolently occupied than any one on 
the farm. She unites in her person, the offices of 
wife, mother, mistress, housekeeper, and sister of 
charity. And she fulfills all thes# offices admirably 
well. The rich men, in free society, may, if they 
please, lounge about town, visit clubs, attend the 
theatre, and have no other trouble than that of col- 
lecting rents, interest and dividends of stock. In 
a well constituted slave society, there should be no 
idlers. But we cannot divine how the capitalists in 
free society are to be put to work. The master 
labors for the slave, they exchange industrial 
value. But the capitalist, living on his income, gives 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 45 

nothing to his subjects. He lives by mere exploi- 
tation. 

It is objected that slavery permits or induces im- 
morality and ignorance. This is a mistake. The in- 
tercourse of the house-servants with the white fam- 
ily, assimilates, in some degree, their state of infor- 
mation, and their moral conduct, to that of the 
whites. The house-servants, by their intercourse 
with the field hands, impart their knowledge to them. 
The master enforces decent morality in all. Ne- 
groes are never ignorant of the truths of Chris- 
tianity, all speak intelligible English, and are posted 
up in the ordinary occurrences of the times. The 
reports to the British Parliament shew, that the 
agricultural and mining poor of England scarce 
know the existence of God, do not speak intelligi- 
ble English, and are generally depraved and igno- 
rant. They learn nothing by intercourse with their 
superiors, as negroes do. They abuse wives and 
children, because they have no masters to control 
them, and the men are often dissipated and idle, 
leaving all the labor to be done by the women and 
children — for the want of this same control. 

Slavery, by separating the mass of the ignorant 
from each other, and bringing them in contact and 
daily intercourse with the well-informed, becomes 
an admirable educational system — no doubt a ne- 
cessary one. By subjecting them to the constant 
control and supervision of their superiors, interested 



46 CANNIBALS ALL; OR. 

in enforcing morality, it becomes the best and most 
efficient police system ; so efficient, that the ancient 
Romans had scarcely any criminal code whatever. 

The great objections to the colonial slavery of the 
latter Romans, to serfdom, and all forms of praedial 
slavery, are : that the slaves are subjected to the 
cares as well as the labors of life; that the masters 
become idlers ; that want of intercourse destroys 
the affectionate relations between master and slave, 
throws the mass of ignorant slaves into no other as- 
sociation but that with the ignorant ; and deprives 
them, as well of the instruction, as the government, 
of superiors living on the same farm. Southern 
slavery is becoming the best form of slavery of which 
we have any history, except that of the Jews. The 
Jews owned but few slaves, and with them the re- 
lation of master and slave was truly affectionate, 
protective and patriarchal. The master, wife and 
children were in constant intercourse with the slaves, 
and formed, in practice as well as theory, affection- 
ate, well-ordered families. 

As modern civilization advances, slavery becomes 
daily more necessary, because its tendency is to ac- 
cumulate all capital in a few hands, cuts off the 
masses from the soil, lessens their wages and their 
chances of employment, and increases the necessity 
for a means of certain subsistence, which slavery 
alone can furnish, when a few own all the lands and 
other capital. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 47 

Christian morality can find little practical foot- 
hold in a community so constituted, that to " love 
our neighbor as ourself," or ''to do unto others as 
we would they should do unto us," would be acts of 
suicidal self-sacrifice. Christian morality, however, 
was not preached to free competitive society, but to 
slave society, where it is neither very difiicult nor 
unnatural to practice it. In the various family 
relations of husband, wife, parent, child, master and 
slave, the observance of these Christian precepts is 
often practiced, and almost always promotes the 
temporal well being of those who observe it. The 
interests of the various members of the family circle, 
correctly understood, concur and harmonize, and 
each member best promotes his own selfish interest 
by ministering to the wants and interests of the 
rest. Two great stumbling blocks are removed from 
the acceptance of Scripture, when it is proved that 
slavery, which it recognizes, approves and enjoins, 
is promotive of men's happiness and well-being, and 
that the morality, which it inculcates, although 
wholly impracticable in free society, is readily prac- 
tised in that form of society to which it was ad- 
dressed. 

We do not conceive that there can be any other 
moral law in free society, than that which teaches 
" that he is most meritorious who most wrongs his 
fellow beings:" for any other law would make men 
martyrs to their own virtues. We see thousands of 



48 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

good men vainly struggling p.gainst the evil necessi- 
ties of their situation, and aggravating bj their 
charities the evils which they would cure, for charity 
in free society is but the tax which skill and capital 
levy from the working poor, too often, to bestow on 
the less deserving and idle poor. We know a man 
at the North who owns millions of dollars, and would 
throw every cent into the ocean to benefit mankind. 
But it is capital, and, place it where he will, it be- 
comes an engine to tax and oppress the laboring 
poor. 

It is impossible to place labor and capital in har- 
monious or friendly relations, except by the means 
of slavery, which identifies their interests. Would 
that gentleman lay his capital out in land and ne- 
groes, he might be sure, in whatever hands it came, 
that it would be employed to protect laborers, not 
to oppress them ; for when slaves are worth near a 
thousand dollars a head, they will be carefully and 
well provided for. In any other investment he may 
make of it, it will be used as an engine to squeeze 
the largest amount of labor from the poor, for the 
least amount of allowance. We say allowance, not 
wages; for neither slaves nor free laborers get wages, 
in the popular sense of the term : that is, the em- 
ployer or capitalist pays them from nothing of his 
own, but allows them a part, generally a very small 
part, of the proceeds of their own labor. Free la- 
borers pay one another, for labor creates all values, 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 49 

and capital, after taking the lion's share by its tax- 
ing power, but pn js the so-called wages of one la- 
borer from the proceeds of the labor of another. 
Capital does not breed, yet remains undiminished. 
Its profits are but its taxing power. Men seek to 
become^independent, in order to cease to pay labor; 
in order to become masters, without the cares, duties 
and responsibilities of masters. Capital exercises 
a more perfect compulsion over free laborers, than 
human masters over slaves : for free laborers must 
at all times work or starve, and slaves are supported 
whether they work or not. Free laborers have less 
liberty than slaves, are worse paid and provided for, 
and have no valuable rights. Slaves, with more of 
actual practical liberty, with ampler allowance, and 
constant protection, are secure in the enjoyment 
of all the rights, which provide for their physical 
comfort at all times and under all circumstances. 
The free laborer must be employed or starve, yet 
no one is obliged to employ him. The slave is taken 
care of, whether employed or not. Though each 
free laborer has no particular master, his wants 
and other men's capital, make him a slave without a 
master, or with too many masters, which is as bad 
as none. It were often better that he had an ascer- 
tained master, instead of an irresponsible and unas- 
certained one. 

There are some startling social phenomena con- 
nected with this subject of labor and capital, which 



4P 

50 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

will probably be nevr to most of our readers. Legis- 
lators and philosophers often puzzle their own and 
other people's brains, in vain discussions as to how 
the taxes shall be laid, so as to fall on the rich 
rather than the poor. It results from our theory, 
that as labor creates all values, laborers pay all 
taxes, and the rich, in the words of Gerrit Smith, 
"are but the conduits that pass them over to gov- 
ernment." 

Again, since labor alone creates and pays the 
profits of capital ; increase and accumulation of cap- 
ital but increase the labor of the poor, and lessen 
their remuneration. Thus the poor are continually 
forging new chains for themselves. Proudhon cites 
a familiar instance to prove and illustrate this 
theory : A tenant improves a farm or house, and 
enhances their rents; his labor thus becomes the 
means of increasing the tax, which he or some one 
else must pay to the capitalist. What is true in this 
instance, is true of the aggregate capital of the 
world : its increase is but an increased tax on labor. 
' A., by trade or speculation, gets hold of an addi- 
tional million of dollars, to the capital already in 
existence. Now his million of dollars will yield no 
profit, unless a number of pauper laborers, sufiicient 
to pay its profits, are at the same time brought into 
existence. After supporting their families, it will 
require a thousand of laborers to pay the interest or 
profits of a million of dollars. It may, therefore, 



/ 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 51 

be generally assumed as true, that where a country 
has gained a millionah'e, it has by the same process 
gained a thousand pauper laborers : Provided it has 
been made by profits on foreign trade, or by new 
values created at home — that is, if it be an addition 
of a million to the capital of the nation. 

A nation borrovv's a hundred millions, at six per 
cent., for a hundred years. During that time it 
pays, in way of tax, called interest, six times the 
capital loaned, and then returns the capital itself. 
During all this time, to the amount of the interest, 
the people of this nation have been slaves to the 
lender. He has commanded, not paid, for their 
labor ; for his capital is returned intact. In the 
abstract, and according to equity, "the use of an 
article is only a proper subject of charge, when the 
article is consumed in the use ; for this consump- 
tion is the consumption of the labor of the lender 
or hirer, and is the exchange of equal amounts of 
labor for each other. 

A., as a mcrchanf, a lawyer, or doctor, makes 
twenty dollars a day; that is, exchanges each day 
of his own labor for twenty days of the labor of 
common working men, assuming that they work at 
a dollar a day. In twenty years, he amasses fifty 
thousand dollars, invests it, and settles it on his 
family. Without any labor, he and his heirs, re- 
taining all this capital, continue, by fls means, to 
levy a tax of three thousand dollars from common 



52 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

laborers. He and his heirs now pay nothing for 
labor, but command it. They have nothing to pay 
except their capital, and that they retain. (This is 
the exploitation or despotism of capital, which has 
taken the place of domestic slavery, and is, in fact, 
a much worse kind of slavery. Hence arises social- 
ism, which proposes to reconstruct society.) Now, 
this capitalist is considered higlily meritorious for 
so doing, and the poor, self-sacrificing laborers, who 
really created his capital, and who pay its profits, are 
thought contemptible, if not criminal. In tlic gen- 
eral, those men are considered the most meritorious 
who live in greatest splendor, with tlie least, or 
with no labor, and they most contemptible, who la- 
bor most for others, and least for tliemsclves. Tu 
the abstract, however, that dealing appears most 
correct, where men exchange c^[\la\ amounts of la- 
bor, bear equal burdens for others, with those that 
they impose on them. Such is the golden rule of 
Scripture, but not the apprq;^'ed practice of man- 
kind. 

"The worth of a thing is just what it will 
bring," is the common trading principle of man- 
kind. Yet men revolt at the extreme applications 
of their own principle, and denunciate any gross 
and palpable advantage taken of the wants, position 
and necessiycs of others as swindling. But we 
should recollect, that in all instances where une- 
qual amounts of labcr are exchanged at par, ad van- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 53 

tage is really taken by him who gets in exchange 
the larger amount of labor, of the wants, position 
and necessities of him who receives the smaller 
amount. 

We have said that laborers pay all taxes, but la- 
bor being capital in slave society, the laborers or 
slaves are not injured by increased taxes ; and the 
capitalist or master has to retrench his own ex- 
penses to meet the additional tax. Capital is not 
taxed in free society, but is taxed in slave society, 
because, in such society, labor is capital. 

The capitalists and the professional can, and do, 
by increased profits and fees, throw the whole bur- 
den of taxation on the laboring class. Slavehold- 
ers cannot do so ; for diminished allowance to their 
slaves, would impair tlieir value and lessen their 
own capital. 

Our expose of what the socialists term the exploi- 
tation of skill and ca])ital, will not, we know, be 
satisfactory to bUveholders even; for, although 
there be much less of such exploitation, or unjust 
exaction, in slave society; still, too much of it re- 
mains to be agreeable to contemplate. Besides, 
our analysis of human nature and human pursuits, 
is too dark and sombrC to meet with ready accept- 
ance. We should be rejoiced to see our theory re- 
futed. We are sure, however, that it never can be; 
but e^uiilly sure, that it is subject to many modifi- 
cations and limitations that have not occurred to 



bi CANNIBALS ALL ; OR, 

US. We have this consolation, that in rejecting as 
false and noxious ail systems of moral philosophy, 
we are thrown upon the Bible, as containing the 
only true system of morals. We have attempted 
already to adduce three instances, in which the 
justification of slavery furnished new and addi- 
tional evidence of the truth of Christianity. We 
will now add others. 

It is notorious that infidelity appeared in the 
world, on an extensive scale, only cotemporane- 
ously with the abolition of slavery, and that it is 
now limited to countries where no domestic slavery 
exists. Besides, abolitionists are commonly infi- 
dels, as their speeches, conventions, and papers 
daily evince. Where there is no slavery, the 
minds of men are unsettled on all subjects, and 
there is, emphatically, faith and conviction about 
nothino;. Their moral and social w^orld is in a cha- 
otic and anarchical state. Order^subordination and 
adaptation have vanished; and with them, the be- 
lief in a Deity, the author of all order. It had 
often been urged, that the order observable in the 
moral and physical world, furnished strong evi- 
dence of a Deity, the authoj.' of that order. How 
vastly is this argument now strengthened, by the 
new fact, now first developed, that the destruction 
of social order generates .universal scepticism. 
Mere political revolutions aftect social order but 
little, and generate but little infidelity. It re- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 55 

mained for social revolutions, like those in Europe 
in 1848, to bring on an infidel age ; for, outside of 
slave society, such is the age in 'which we live. 

If we prove that domestic slavery is, in the gen- 
eral, a natural and necessary institution, we remove 
the greatest stumbling block to belief in the Bible ; 
for whilst texts, detached and torn from their con- 
text, may be found for any other purpose, none can 
be found that even militates against slavery* The 
distorted and forced construction of certain pas- 
sages, for this purpose, by abolitionists, if employed 
as a common rule of construction, would reduce the 
Bible to a mere allegory, to be interpreted to suit 
every vicious taste and wicked purpose. 

But we have been looking merely to one side of 
human nature, and to that side rendered darker by 
the false, antagonistic and competitive relations in 
which so-called liberty and equality place man. 

Man is, by nature, the most social and grega- 
rious, and, therefore, the least selfish of animals. 
Within the family there is little room, opportunity 
or temptation to selfishness — and slavery leaves but 
little of the world Avithout the family. Man loves 
that nearest to him best. First his wife, children 
and parents, then his slaves, next his neighbors and 
fellow-countrymen. But his unselfishness does not 
stop here. He is ready and anxious to relieve a 
famine in Ireland, and shudders when he reads of a 
murder at the antipodes. He feels deeply for the 



5Q CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

sufferings of domestic animals, and is rendered 
happy by witnessing the enjoyments of the flocks, 
and herds, and carroling birds that surround him. 
He sympathizes with all external -nature. A 
parched field distresses him, and he rejoices as he 
sees the groves, and the gardens, and the plains 
flourishing, and blooming, and smiling about him. 
All men are philanthropists, and would benefit their 
fellow-men if they could. But we cannot be sure 
of benefiting those whom we cannot control. 
Hence, all actively good men are ambitious, and 
would be masters, in all save the name. 

Benevolence, the love of what is without, and the 
disposition to incur pain or inconvenience to ad- 
vance the happiness and well-being of what is with- 
out self, is as universal a motive of human conduct, 
as mere selfishness — which is the disposition to sac- 
rifice the good of others to our own good. 

The prevalent philosophy of the day takes cog- 
nizance of but half of human nature — and that 
the worst half. Our happiness is so involved in the 
happinesss and well-being of everything around us, 
that a mere selfish philosophy, like political econ- 
omy, is a very unsafe and delusive guide. 

We employ the term Benevolence to express our 
outward affections, sympathies, tastes and feelings ; 
but it is inadequate to express our meaning ; it is 
not the opposite of selfishness, and unselfishness 
would be too negative for our purpose. Philosophy 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 57 

has been so busy with the worst feature of human 
nature, that it has not even found a name for this, 
its better feature. We must fall back on Chris- 
tianity, which embraces man's whole nature, and 
though not a code of philosophy, is something bet- 
ter; for it proposes to lead us through the trials 
and intricacies of life, not by the mere cool calcu- 
lations of the head, but by the unerring instincts of 
a pure and regenerate heart. The problem of the 
Moral World is too vast and complex for the human 
mind to comprehend ; yet the pure heart will, safely 
and quietly, feel its way through the mazes that 
confound the head. 



58 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 



CHAPTER III. 

SUBJECT CONTINUED— EXPLOITATION OF SKILL. 



"The worth of a thing, is just what it will 
bring." The professional man who charges the 
highest fees is most respected, and he who under- 
charges stands disgraced. We have a friend who 
has been, and we believe will continue to be, oiie of 
the most useful men in Virginia. He inherited an 
independent patrimony. He acquired a fine edu- 
cation, and betook himself laboriously to an honor- 
able profession. His success was great, and his 
charges very high. In a few years he amassed a 
fortune, and ceased work. We expounded our 
theory to him. Told him we used to consider him 
a good man, and quite an example for the rising 
generation ; but that now he stood condemned un- 
der our theory. Whilst making his fortune, he 
daily exchanged about one day of his -light labor 
for thirty days of the farmer, the gardener, the 
miner, the ditcher, the sewing woman, and other 
common working people's labor. His capital was 
but the accumulation of the results of their labor ; 
for common labor creates all capital. Their labor 
was more necessary and useful than his, and also 
harder and more disagreeable. It should be con- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 59 

sidered more honorable and respectable. The 
more honorable, because they were contented with 
their situation and their profits, and not seeking to 
exploitatCj by exchanging one day of their labor 
for many of other people's. To be exploitated, 
ought to be more creditable than to exploitate. 
They were "slaves without masters;" the little fish, 
who were food for all the larger. They stood dis- 
graced, because they would not practice cannibal- 
ism ; rise in the world by more lucrative, less useful 
and less laborious pursuits, and live by exploitation 
rather than labor. He, by practising cannibalism 
more successfully than others, had acquired fame 
and fortune. 'Twas the old tune — "Saul has slain 
his thousands, and David his tens of thousands." 
The more scalps we can shevr, the more honored 
we are. 

We told him he had made his fortune by the ex- 
ploitation of skill, and was no'w living by the still 
worse exploitation of capital. Whilst working, he 
made thirty dollars a day — that is, exploitated or 
appropriated the labor of thirty common working 
men, and gave in exchange his own labor, intrinsic- 
ally less worthy, than any one of theirs. But now 
he was doing worse. He was using his capital as a 
power to compel others to work for him — for whom 
he did not work at all. The white laborers who 
made his income, or interests and dividends, were 
wholly neglected by him, because he did not know 



60 ^ CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

even who they were. He treated his negro slaves 
much better. It was true, he appropriated or ex- 
ploitated much of the results of their labor, but he 
governed them and provided for them, with almost 
parental affection. Some of them we knew, who 
feigned to be unfit for labor, he was boarding ex- 
pensively. Our friend at first ridiculed our theory. 
But by degrees began to see its truth, and being 
sensitively conscientious, was disposed to fret when- 
ever the subject was introduced. 

One day he met us, with a face beaming with 
smiles, and said, ^'I can explain and justify that 
new theory of yours. This oppression and exac- 
tion of skill and capital which we see continually 
practiced, and which is too natural to man ever to 
cease, is necessary in order to disperse and diffuse 
population over the globe. Half the good lands of 
the world are unappropriated and invite settlement 
and cultivation. Most men who choose can become 
proprietors by change of residence. They are too 
much crowded in many countries, and exploitation 
that disperses them is a blessing. It will be time 
enough to discuss your theory of the despotism of 
skill and capital, when all the world is densely set- 
tled, and the men without property can no longer 
escape from the exactions of those who hold pro- 
perty." 

Our friend's theory is certainly ingenious and 
novel, and goes far to prove that exploitation is not 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 61 

an unmitigated evil. Under exceptional circum- 
stances, its good effects on human happiness and 
well-being, may greatly over-balance its evil influ- 
ences. Such, probably, is the case at the North. 
There, free competition, and the consequent oppres- 
sions of skill and capital are fiercer and more ac- 
tive than in any other country. But in forty-eight 
hours, laborers may escape to the West, and be- 
come proprietors. It is a blessing to them to be 
thus expelled, and a blessing to those who expel 
them. The emigration to the West rids the East 
of a surplus population, and enriches it by the in- 
terchanges of trade and commerce which the emi- 
gration immediately begets. As an exceptional 
form of society, we begin to think that at the 
North highly useful. It will continue to be good 
and useful until the North-west is peopled. Then, 
and not till then, it will be time for Mr. Greely to 
build phalansteries, and for Gerrit Smith to divide 
all the lands. We find that we shall have to de- 
fend the North as well as the South against the as- 
saults of the abolitionist — still, we cannot abate a 
jot or tittle of our theory: "Slavery is the natural 
and normal condition of society." The situation of 
the North is abnormal and anomalous. So in desert 
or mountainous regions, where only small patches 
of land can be cultivated, the father, wife and chil- 
dren are sufficient for the purpose, and slavery 
would be superfluous. 



G2 CANNIBALS ALL; OK, 

In order to make sure that our reader shall com- 
prehend our theory, we will give a long extract 
from the "Science of Society," by Stephen Pearle 
Andrews of New York. He is, we think, far the 
ablest writer on moral science that America has 
produced. Though an abolitionist, he has not a 
very bad opinion of slavery. We verily believe, 
there is not one intelligent abolitionist at the North 
who does not believe that slavery to capital in free 
society is worse than Southern negro slavery ; but 
like Mr. Andrews, they are all perfectionists, with 
a Utopia in full view : 

I. Suppose I am a wheelwright in a small village, 
and the only one of my trade. You are travelling with 
certain valuables in your carriage, which breaks down 
opposite my shop. It will take an hour of my time to 
mend the carriage. You can get no other means of 
conveyance, and the loss to you, if you fail to arrive at 
the neighboring town in season for the sailing of a cer- 
tain vessel, will be $500, which fact you mention to me, 
in good faith, in order to quicken my exertions. I give 
one hour of my work and mend the carriage. What am 
I in equity entitled to charge — what should be the limit 
of price upon my labor? 

Let us apply the different measures, and see how they 
will operate. If Value is the limit of price, then the 
price of the hour's labor should be $500. That is the 
equivalent of the value of the labor to you. If cost is 
the limit of price, then you should pay me a commodity, 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 63 

or commodities, or a representative in currency, wliicb 
will procure me commodities having in them one hour's 
labor equally as hard as the mending of the carriage, 
without the slightest reference to the degree of benefit 
which that labor has bestowed on you -, or, putting the 
illustration in money, thus: assuming the twenty -five 
cents to be an equivalent for an hour's labor of an arti- 
zan in that particular trade, then, according to the Cost 
Principle, I should be justified in asking only twenty- 
five cents, but according to the Value Principle^ I should 
be justified in asking $500. 

The Value Principle, in some form of expression, is, 
as I have said, the only recognized principle of trade 
throughout the world. ^^ A thing is worth what it will 
bring in the market.'' Still, if I were to charge you 
$500, or a fourth part of that sum, and, taking advan- 
tage of your necessities, force you to pay it, everybody 
would denounce me, the poor wheelwright, as an extor- 
tioner and a scoundrel. Why ? Simply because this is 
an unusual application of the principle. Wheelwrights 
seldom have a chance to make such a '^speculation,'' 
and therefore it is not according to the '^ established 
usages of trade." Hence its manifest injustice shocks, 
in such a case, the common sense of right. Meanwhile 
you, a wealthy merchant, are daily rolling up an im- 
mense fortune by doing business upon the same principle 
which you condemn in the wheelwright, and nobody 
finds fault. At every scarcity in the market, you imme- 
diately raise the price of every article you hold. It is 
your husiness to take advantage of the necessities of 
those with whom you deal, by selling to them accord- 



64 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

ing to the Value to them, and not according to the Cost 
to you. You go further. You, by every means in your 
power, create those necessities, by buying up particular 
articles and holding them out of the market until the 
demand becomes pressing, by circulating false reports of 
short crops, and by other similar tricks known to the trade. 
This is the same in principle, as if the wheelwright had 
first dug the rut in which your carriage upset, and then 
charged you the $500. 

Yet hitherto no one has thought of seriously ques- 
tioning the principle, namely, that " Value is the limit 
of price,' ^ or, in other words, that it is right to take for 
a thing lohat it is worth.'' It is upon this principle or 
maxim, that all honorable trade professes now to be con- 
ducted, until instances arise in which its oppressive ope- 
ration is so glaring and repugnant to the moral sense of 
mankind, that those who carry it out are denounced as 
rogues and cheats. In this manner a sort of conven- 
tional limit is placed upon the application of a principle 
which is equally tJie principle of every swindling trans- 
action, and of what is called legitimate commerce. The 
discovery has not hitherto been made, that the principle 
itself is essentially vicious, and that in its infinite and 
all-pervading variety of applications, this vicious princi- 
ple is the source of the injustice, inequality of condition, 
and frightful pauperism and wretchedness which charac- 
terize the existing state of our so-called civilization. 
Still less has the discovery been made, that there is ano- 
ther simple principle of traffic which, once understood 
and applied in practice, will effectually rectify all those 
monstrous evils, and introduce into human society the 



SLAVES WITQOUT MASTERS. 65 

reign of absolute equity in all property relations, while 
it will lay the foundations of universal harmony in the 
social and moral relations as well. 

II. Suppose it costs me ten minutes' labor to concoct 
a pill which will save your life when nothing else will; 
and suppose, at the same time, to render the case simple, 
that the knowledge of the ingredients came to me by ac- 
cident, without labor or cost. It is clear that your life 
is worth to you more than your fortune. Am I, then, 
entitled to demand of you for the nostrum the whole of 
your property, more or less? Clearly so, if it is right 
to take for a tiling what it is icorth, which is theoreti- 
cally the highest ethics of trade. 

Forced, on the one hand, by the impossibility, existing 
in the nature of things, of ascertaining and measuring 
positive values, or of determining, in other words, what 
a thing is really icorth, and rendered partially conscious 
by the obvious hardship and injustice of every unusual 
or extreme application of the principle that it is either 
no rule or a bad one, and not guided by the knowledge of 
any true principle out of the labyrinth of conflicting 
rights into which the false principle conducts, the world 
has practically abandoned the attempt to combine Equity 
with Commerce, and lowered its standard of morality to 
the inverse statement of the formula, namely, that, '' A 
tiling is worth what it loill bring ;" or, in other words; 
that it is fitting and proper to take for a thing when sold 
whatever can be got for it. This, then, is what is de- 
nominated the Market Value of an article, as distin- 
guished from its actual value. Without beino; more 
equitable as a measure of price, it certainly has a great 



66 CANNIBALS all; or, 

practical advantage over the more decent theoretical 
statement, in the fact that it is possible to ascertain by 
experiment how much you can force people, through 
their necessities, to give. The principle, in this form, 
^ measures the price by the degree of iva72f on the part of 
the purchaser, that is, by what he supposes will prove to 
be the value or benefit to him of the commodity pur- 
chased, in comparison with that of the one with which 
he parts in the transaction. Hence it becomes immedi- 
ately and continually the interest of the seller to place 
the purchaser in a condition of as much want as possible; 
^Ho corner" him, as the phrase is in Wall street, and 
force him to buy at the dearest rate. If he is unable to 
increase his actual necessity, he resorts to every means of 
creating an imaginary want by false praises bestowed 
upon the qualities and uses of his goods. Hence the 
usages of forestalling the market, of confusing the pub- 
lic knowledge of Supply and Demand, of advertising 
and puffing worthless commodities, and the like, which 
constitute the existing commercial system — a system 
which, in our age, is ripening into putrefaction, and 
coming to offend the nostrils of good taste no less than 
the innate sense of right, which, dreadfully vitiating as 
it is, it has failed wholly to extinguish. 

The Value Principle in this form, as in the other, is 
therefore feltj without being distinctly understood, to be 
essentially diabolical, and hence it undergoes again a 
kind of sentimental modification wherever the sentiment 
for honesty is most potent. This last and highest ex- 
pression of the doctrine of honesty, as now known in the 
world, may be stated in the form of the hortatory pre- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. (37 

cept, "Don't be too bad/' or, "Don't gouge too deep." 
No Political Economist, Financier, Moralist, or Religion- 
ist, has any more definite standard of right in commer- 
cial transactions than that. It is not too much to affirm 
that neither Political Economist, Financier, Moralist, nor 
Religionist knows at this day, nor ever has known, what it 
is to be honest. The religious teacher, who exhorts his 
hearers from Sabbath to Sabbath to be fair in their deal- 
ings with each other and with the outside world, does not 
know, and could not for his life tell, how much he is, in 
fair dealing or equity, bound to pay his washerwoman or 
his housekeeper for any service whatever which they may 
render. The sentiment of honesty exists, but the science 
of honesty is wanting. The sentiment is first in order. 
The science must be an outgrowth, a consequential de- 
velopment of the sentiment. The precepts of Christian 
Morality deal properly with that which is the soul of the 
other, leaving to intellectual investigation the discovery 
of its scientific complement. 

It follows from what has been said, that the Value 
Principle is the commercial embodiment of the essential 
element of conquest and war — war transferred from the 
battle-field to the counter — none the less opposed, how- 
ever, to the spirit of Christian Morality, or the sentiment 
of human brotherhood. In bodily conflict, the physic- 
ally strong conquer and subject the physically weak. In 
the conflict of trade, the intellectually astute and power- 
ful conquer and .subject those who are intellectually fee- 
ble, or whose intellectual development is not of the pre- 
cise kind to fit them for the conflict of wits in the matter 
of trade. With the progress of civilization and develop- 



68 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

merit we have ceased to think that superior physical 
strength gives the o^iglit of conquest and subjugation. 
We have graduated, in idea, out of the period of phy- 
sical dominion. We remain, however, as yet in the 
period of intellectual conquest or phmder. It has not 
been questioned hitherto, as a general proposition, that 
the man who has superior intellectual endowments to 
others, has a right resulting therefrom to profit thereby 
at the cost of others. In the extreme applications of the 
admission only is the conclusion ever denied. In the 
whole field of what are denominated the legitimate opera- 
tions of trade, there is no other law recognized than the 
relative ^'smartness" or shrewdness of the parties, 
modified at most by the sentimental precept stated above. 
The intrinsic wrongfulness of the principal axioms and 
practice of existing commerce will appear to every re- 
flecting mind from the preceding analysis. It will be 
proper, however, before dismissing the consideration of 
the Value Principle, to trace out a little more in detail 
some of its specific results. 

The principle itself being essentially iniquitous, all 
the fruits of the principle are necessarily pernicious. 

Among the consequences which flow from it are the 
following : 

I. It renders falsehood and hypocrisy a necessary con- 
comitant of trade. Where the object is to buy cheap 
and sell dear, the parties find their interest in mutual 
deception. It is taught, in theory, that " honesty is the 
best policy," in the long run ; but in practice the mer- 
chant discovers speedily that he must starve if he acts 
upon the precept — in the short run. Honesty — even as 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 69 

mucli honesty as can be arrived at — is not the best policy 
under the present unscientific system of commerce; if 
by the best policy is meant that which tends to success in 
business. Professional merchants are sharp to distinguish 
their true policy for that end, and they do not find it in a 
full exposition of the truth. Intelligent merchants know 
the fact well, and conscientious merchants deplore it; 
but they see no remedy. The theory of trade taught to 
innocent youths in the retired famil}^, or the Sunday 
school, would ruin any clerk, if adhered to behind the 
counter, in a fortnight. Hence it is uniformly aban- 
doned, and a new system of morality acquired the mo- 
ment a practical application is to be made of the instruc- 
tion. A frank disclosure, by the merchant, of all the 
secret advantages in his possession, would destroy his 
reputation for sagacity as effectually as it would that of 
the gambler among his associates. Both commerce and 
gambling, as professions, are systems of strategy. It is 
the business of both parties to a trade to over-reach each 
other — a fact which finds its unblushing announcement in 
the maxim of the Common Law, Caveat emjytoj-, (let the 
purchaser take care.) 

II. It maJces the rich richer and the poor poorer. — 
Trade being, under this system, the intellectual corres- 
pondence to the occupation of the cut-throat or con- 
queror under the reign of physical force — the stronger 
consequently accumulating more than his share at the 
cost of the destruction of the weaker — the consequence 
of the principle is that the occupation of trade, for those 
who possess intellectual superiority, with other favorable 
conditions, enables them to accumulate more than their 



70 CANNIBALS ALL ; OR, 

share of wealth, while it reduces those whose intellectual 
development — of the precise kind requisite for this spe- 
cies of contest — and whose material conditions are less 
favorable — to wretchedness and poverty. 

III. It creates trade for trade's sake, and augments 
the number of non-producers, whose suj^port is chargea- 
ble upon Labor. As trade under the operation of this 
principle, offers the temptation of illicit gains and rapid 
wealth at the expense of others, it creates trade where 
there is no necessity for trade — not as a beneficent inter- 
change of commodities between producers and consumers, 
but as a means of speculation. Hence thousands are 
withdrawn from actual pix»duction and thrust unnecessa- 
rily into the business of exchanging, mutually devouring 
each other by competition, and drawing their subsistence 
and their wealth from the producing classes, without ren- 
dering any equivalent service. Hence the interminable 
range of intermediates between the producer and consu- 
mer, the total defeat of organization and economy in the 
distribation of products, and the intolerable burden of 
the unproductive classes upon labor, together with a host 
of the frightful results of pauperism and crime. 

IV. It degrades the dignifi/ of Labor. Inasmuch as 
trade, under the operation of this principle, is more pro- 
fitable, or at any rate is liable to be, promises to be, and 
in a portion of cases is more profitable than productive 
labor, it follows that the road to wealth and social dis- 
tinction lies in that direction. Hence " Commerce is 
King,'' Hence, again, productive labor is depreciated 
and contemned. It holds the same relation to commerce 
in this age — under the reign of intellectual superiority — 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. <i 

that commerce itself held a few generations since — under 
the reign of physical force — to military achievement, 
personal or hereditary. Thus the degradation of labor, 
and all the innumerable evils which follow in its train, 
in our existing civilization, find their efficient cause in 
this same false principle of exchanging products. The 
next stage of progress will be the inauguration of Equity 
— equality in the results of every species of industry 
according to burdens, and the consequent accession of 
labor to the highest rank of human estimation. Com- 
merce will then sink to a mere brokerage, paid, like any 
other species of labor, according to its repugnance, as the 
army is now sinking to a mere police force. It will be 
reduced to the simplest and most direct methods of ex- 
change, and made to be the merest servant of production, 
which will come, in its turn, to be regarded as conferring 
the only true patents of nobility. 

Y. It prevents the possibility of a scientjic Adjustment 
of Supply to Demand. It has been already shown that 
speculation is the cause why there has never been, and 
cannot now be any scientific Adaptation of Supply to 
Demand. It has also been partially shown, at various 
points, that speculation, or trading in chances and fluctu- 
ations in the market has its root in the Value Principle, 
and that the Cost Principle extinguishes speculation. It 
will be proper, however, in this connection to define ex- 
actly the limits of speculation, and to point out more 
specifically how the Value Principle creates it, and how 
the Cost Principle extinguishes it. 

By speculation is meant, in the ordinary language of 



72 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

trade, risky and unusual enterprises entered upon for the 
sake of more than ordinary profits, and in that sense 
there is attached to it, among merchants, a slight shade 
of imputation of dishonesty or disreputable conduct. As 
we are seeking now, however, to employ language in an 
exact and scientific way, we must find a more precise 
definition of the term. The line between ordinary and 
more than ordinary profits is too vague for a scientific 
treatise. At one extremity of the long succession of 
chance-dealing and advantage-taking transactions stands 
gambling, which is denounced by the common verdict of 
mankind as merely a more specious form of robbery. It 
holds the same relation to robbery itself that duelling 
holds to murder. Where is the other end of this succes- 
sion ? At what point does a man begin to take an undue 
advantage of his fellow man in a commercial transaction ? 
It clearly appears, from all that has been shown, that he 
does so from the moment that he receives from him more 
than an exact equivalent of cost. But it is the constant 
endeavor of every trader, upon any other than the Cost 
Principle, to do that. The business of the merchant is 
profit-making. Profit signifies, etymologically, something 
made over and above, that is, something beyond an 
equivalent, or, in its simplest expression, something for 
nothing. 

It is clear, then, that there is no difference between 
profit-making in its mildest form, speculation in its op- 
probrious sense as the middle term, and gambling as the 
ultimate, except in degree. There is simply the bad 
gradation of rank which there is between the slaveholder, 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 73 

the driver on the slave plantation, and the slave dealer, 
or between the man of pleasure, the harlot, and the 
pimp. 

The philanthropy of the age is moving heaven and 
earth to the overthrow of the institution of slavery. But 
slavery has no scientific definition. It is thought to con- 
sist in the feature of chattelism ; hut an ingenious lawyer 
would run his pen through every statute upon slavery in 
existence, and expunge that fiction of the law, and yet 
leave slavery, for all practical purposes, precisely what it 
is now. It needs only to appropriate the services of the 
man by operation of law, instead of the man himself. 
The only distinction, then, left between his condition and 
that of the laborer who is robbed by the operation of a 
false commercial principle, would be in the fact of the 
oppression being more tangible and undisguisedly de- 
grading to his manhood. 

If, in any transaction, I get from you some portion of 
your earnings without an equivalent, I begin to make 
you my slave — to confiscate you to my uses ; if I get a 
larger portion of your services without an equivalent^ I 
make you still further my slave ; and, finally, if I obtain 
the whole of your services without an equivalent — except 
the means of keeping you in working condition for my 
own sake, I make you completely my slave. Slavery is 
merely one development of a general system of human 
oppression, for which we have no comprehensive term in 
English, but which the French Socialists denominate 
exj^loitation — the abstraction, directly or indirectly, from 
the working classes of the fruits of their labor. In the 
case of the slave, the instrument of that abstraction is 

4 



74 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

force and legal enactments. In the case of the laborer, 
generally, it is speculation in the large sense, or jprojit- 
making. The slaveholder will be found, therefore, upon 
a scientific analysis, to hold the same relation to the 
trader which the freebooter holds to the blackleg. It is 
a question of taste which to admire most, the dare-devil 
boldness of the one, or the oily and intriguing propen- 
sities and performances of the other. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 75 



CHAPTER lY. 

INTERNATIONAL EXPLOITATION. 

As individuals possessing skill or capital exploi- 
tate, or compel other individuals in the same com- 
munity to work for them for nothing, or for undue 
consideration, precisely in the same way do nations 
possessed of those advantages exploitate other na- 
tions with whom they trade, who are without them. 

England lends, say, five hundred millions of dol- 
lars to governments and individuals in America. In 
a hundred years, she will have withdrawn from us, 
in interest, six times the amount loaned or advanced, 
and at the expiration of that time she withdraws 
the principal itself. We pay England a tax of at 
least three thousand million of dollars in a century ; 
for her loans to us are probably even larger than 
the amount assumed. She commands the results of 
our labor to that extent, and gives us not a cent of 
the results of her labor in return — for her principal 
loaned represents her labor, and that we return to 
her intact. We are, to that extent, her slaves, — 
" slaves without masters;" for she commands and 
enjoys our labor, and is under none of the obliga» 



76 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

tions of a master — to protect, defend and provide 
for us. 

Her superior skill in the meclianic arts, by means 
of free trade, taxes or exploitates us quite as 
much as her capital. She exchanges her compara- 
tively light and skillful labor, for our hard, exposed 
and unintellectual labor ; and, in the general, com- 
pels us to labor three hours for her, when she 
labors one for us. Thus, after deducting the cost 
of the material, a yard of her cloth will exchange 
for an amount of our cotton, corn or meat, that 
cost three times as much labor to produce as her 
yard of cloth. 

As in society, the skillful and professional tax or 
exploitate the common laborer, by exchanging one 
hour of their light labor for many of the common 
workingman's hard labor; as lawyers, doctors, mer- 
chants and mechanics deal with day laborers, so 
England and New England treat us of the South. 
This theory, and this alone, accounts for England's 
ability to pay the interest on her national debt, and 
yet increase her wealth. She effects it all by the 
immense profits of the exploitation of her skill and 
capital ; by the power which they give her to com- 
mand labor, and appropriate its results, without con- 
sideration, or for a very partial consideration. She 
trades with the world, and exploitates it all, except 
France. France sets the fashion, and this enables 
her to exploitate England. England, in her trade 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 77 

with France, has to pay for French fashions as well 
as French labor. In other words, France possesses 
superior skill, and exploitates England by means 
of it. Labor, not skill, is the just and equitable 
measure of values. 

America sends her cotton, her surplus grain and 
meats, and other agricultural products, and her 
California gold, to England, and gets worse than 
nothing in return ; for if she were compelled to pro- 
duce at home what she procures from England, she 
must cultivate a thousand skillful and intellectual 
pursuits, instead of being, as she too much is, con- 
fined to the coarse drudgery of common labor. 
The Southern States of this Union are exploitated 
of their labor and their brains, in their trade with 
England and New England. They produce nothing 
which we had not better produce at home. North- 
ern trade exploitates us. Trade further South 
would enrich us and enlighten us; for we would 
manufacture for the far South. We should become 
exploitators, instead of being exploitated. 

When we were in New Haven, a distinguished 
abolitionist boasted to us that mechanics received 
two dollars per day for their labor, and, by their 
China trade, exchanged the products of one day's 
labor for twenty days' labor of the Chinese, who 
worked for ten cents a day. The New England 
mechanic was thus the master of twenty Chinese 
laborers, whose labor he commanded for one of his 



78 CANNIBALS ALL; OE, 

own day's labor. Here was an instance of indi- 
vidual, not of national exploitation. Well might 
China dread free trade. It gives her task-masters, 
who impoverish her people and depress her civiliza- 
tion; for they, by their machinery and superior 
skill, withdraw her people from a thousand me- 
chanical pursuits that promoted civilization. 

In Sociology, we explained this subject syntheti- 
cally : we have tried now to expound it analytically. 



BLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 79 



CHAPTER V. 

FALSE PHILOSOPHY OF THE AGE. 

The moral philosophy of our age, (which term 
we use generically to include Politics, Ethics, and 
Economy, domestic and national,) is deduced from 
the existing relations of men to each other in free 
society, and attempts to explain, to justify, to gen- 
eralize and regulate those relations. If that sys- 
tem of society be wrong, and its relations false, 
the philosophy resulting from it must partake of its 
error and falsity. On the other hand, if our cur- 
rent philosophy be true, slavery must be wrong, 
because that philosophy is at war with slavery. 
No successful defence of slavery can be made, till 
we succeed in refuting or invalidating the princi- 
ples on which free society rests for support or 
defence. The world, however, is sick of its philos- 
ophy ; and the Socialists have left it not a leg to 
stand on. In fact, it is, in all its ramifications, a 
mere expansion and application of Political Econ- 
omy, — and Political Economy may be summed up 
in the phrase, "Laissez-faire," or "Let alone." A 
system of unmitigated selfishness pervades and dis- 
tinguishes all departments of ethical, political, and 



80 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

economic science. The pliilosophy is partially true, 
because selfishness, as a rule of action and guide of 
conduct, is necessary to the existence of man, and 
of all other animals. But it should not be, with 
man especially, the only rule and guide ; for he is, 
by nature, eminently social and gregarious. His 
wants, his weakness, his appetites, his affections, 
compel him to look without, and beyond self, in 
order to sustain self. The eagle and the owl, the 
lion and the tiger, are not gregarious, but solitary 
and self-supporting. They practice political econ- 
omy, because 'tis adapted to their natures. But 
men and beavers, herds, bees, and ants, require a 
different philosophy, another guide of conduct. 
The Bible, (independent of its authority,) is far 
man's best guide, even in this world. Next to it, 
we would place Aristotle. But all boeks written 
four hundred or more years ago, are apt to yield 
useful instruction, whilst those written since that 
time will generally mislead. We mean, of course, 
books on moral science. We should not be far out 
in saying, that no book on physics, written more 
than four hundred years ago, is worth reading, and 
none on morals written within that time. The Re- 
formation, which effected much of practical good, 
gave birth to a false philosophy, which has been 
increasing and ramifying until our day, and now 
threatens the overthrow of all social institutions. 
The right of Private Judgment led to the doctrine 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 81 

of Human Individuality, and a Social Contract to 
restrict that individuality. Hence, also, arose the 
doctrines of Laissez-faire, free competition, human 
equality, freedom of religion, of speech and of the 
press, and universal liberty. The right of Private 
Judgment, naturally enough, leads to the right to 
act on that judgment, to the supreme sovereignty 
of the individual, and the abnegation of all govern- 
ment. No doubt the Reformation resulted from 
the relaxation of feudalism and the increased lib- 
erties of mind and body which men had begun to 
relish and enjoy. We have no quarrel with the 
Reformation, as such, for reform was needed; nor 
with all of the philosophy that has been deduced 
from it; but it is the excess of reform, and the 
excessive applications of that philosophy, to which 
we object. Man is selfish, as well as social; he is 
born a part and member of society, born and lives 
a slave of society ; but he has also natural individ- 
ual rights and liberties. What are his obligations 
to society, what his individual rights, what position 
he is entitled to, what duties he should fulfill, de- 
pend upon a thousand ever-changing circumstances, 
in the wants and capacities of the individual, and 
in the necessities and well-being of the society to 
which he belongs. Modern philosophy treats of 
men only as separate monads or individuals ; it is, 
therefore, always partly false and partly true ; be- 
cause, whilst man is always a limb or member of 



82 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

the Being, Society, lie is also a Being himself, and 
does not bear to society the mere relation which 
the hand or the foot does to the human body. We 
shall propose no new philosophy, no universal and 
unerring principles or guide, in place of those which 
we assail. A Moral Pathology, which feels its 
way in life, and adapts itself to circumstances, as 
they present themselves, is the nearest approach to 
philosophy, which it is either safe or wise to at- 
tempt. All the rest must be left to Religion, to 
Eaith, and to Providence. This inadequacy of 
philosophy has, in all ages and nations, driven men 
to lean on religious faith for support. Though 
assailing all common theories, we are but giving 
bold and candid expression to the commonest of 
thoughts. The universal admiration of the pas- 
sages we are about to cite, proves the truth of our 
theory, whilst it debars us of all claim to origi- 
nality : 

Solomon, melancholy, gloomy, dissatisfied, and 
tossed upon a sea of endless doubt and speculation, 
exclaims, "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; 
all is vanity." But, at length, he finds rest from 
the stormy ocean of philosophy, in the calm haven 
of faith. How beautiful and consoling, and how 
natural, too, his parting words : 

''Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: 
Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the 
whole duty of man."' 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 83 

*^For God shall bring every work into judgment, with 
every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be 
evil." 

In his Tenth, or Golden Satire, Juvenal comes 
to a like conclusion, after having indulged in like 
speculations: 

Nil erg5 optabunt homines? Si consilium vis, 
Permittes ipsis expendere numinibus, quid 
Conveniat nobis, rebusque sit utile nostris. 
Nam pro jucuudis aptissama queeque dabunt diis 
Carior est illis homo, quam sibi. 

The Epicurean Horace, in his first Satire, sees 
the same difficulty, but gives a less satisfactory 
solution : 

Est modus in rebus; sunt certi denique fines, 
Quos ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum. 

Burke's beautiful words, *'What shadows we 
are, and what shadows we pursue!" convey the 
same thought, without attempting a solution. 

Shakspeare employs the profoundest philoso- 
phy, to assail all philosophy : 

''There are more things in heaven and earth, 
Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." 

The infidel, VoLTAiRE,*admits that "philosophy 
liad ascertained few truths, done little good;" and 



84 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

when he sums up that little, satisfies the reader 
that it has done nothing — unless it he to perplex 
and mislead. 

He, Voltaire, also, in another connection, ex- 
claims, mournfully: 

'' I now repeat this confession, still more emphatically, 
since the more I read, the more I meditate, and the more 
I acquire, the more I am enabled to affirm, that I know 
nothing/' 

Newton, admitting his own ignorance, is a stand- 
ing monument of the inadequacy and futility of 
moral researches and speculations. 

Pindar— 

Man, the frail being of a day, 
Uncertain shadow of a dream, 
Illumined by the heavenly beam. 

Flutters his airy life away. 

iEsCHYLUS— 

Vain thy ardor, vain thy grace, 

They, nor force, nor aid repay ; 
Like a dream, man's feeble race, 

Short-liYed reptiles of a day, 

Sophocles — 

'Tis sad to think, but me the farce of life persuades. 
That men are only spectral forms, or hollow shades. 



slaves without masters. 85 

Aristophanes — 

Come now, ye host of fading liyes, like the race of •withering 

leaves, 
Who live a day, creatures of clay, tribes that flit like shadows 

away; 
Ephemeral, wingless insects, dreamy shapes, that death expects 
Soon to bind in phantom sheaves. 

We will conclude our citations, which we might 
continue to the crack of doom, (for all who have 
written well and much, have indulged similar re- 
flections,) with Doctor Johnson's Easselas, which 
is intended to expand and apply what others had 
concisely and tersely stated. The Doctor's is an 
elaborate failure. 

Philosophy can neither account for the past, 
comprehend the present, nor foresee and provide 
for the future, "I'll none of it." 



86 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 



CHAPTER VI. 

FREE TRADE, FASHION AND CENTRALIZATION. 

Liberty and political economy beget and encour- 
age free trade, as well between different localities 
and different nations, as between individuals of the 
same towns, neighborhoods or nations. The na- 
tions possessed of most skill and capital, and com- 
mercial enterprise, and cunning, gradually absorb 
the wealth of those nations who possess less of 
those qualities. The effect of international free 
trade, aided by the facilities of the credit system, 
of the mail, and speedy steam communication, is to 
centralize wealth in a few large cities, such as New 
York, Paris and London ; and of social free trade 
to aggregate wealth in a few hands in those ci- 
ties. Theoretically, the disparities of shrewdness, 
of skill and business capacity, between nations and 
individuals, would, in the commercial and trading 
war of the wits, rob the weak and simple, and en- 
rich the strong and cunning. The facts of history, 
and of the increasing inequalities of social, indi- 
vidual and national wealth, under the system of 
free trade, stimulated by political economy, cor- 
respond with the theory. Every month brings 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 87 

forth its millionaire, and every day its thousands 
of new paupers. New York and London grow 
richer rapidly on the fruits of a trade that robs the 
less commercial and skillful people who traf&c with 
them. 

But the worst effect of free trade is, that it be- 
gets centres of opinion, thought and fashions, robs 
men of. their nationality, and impairs their patriot- 
ism by teaching them to ape foreign manners, affect 
foreign dress and opinions, and despise what is 
domestic. Paris, as the centre of thought and 
fashion, wields as much power, and makes almost 
as much money as London, by being the centre of 
trade and capital. An American or Englishman 
will give five prices for an article because it is made 
in Paris. Thus the want of true self-respect in 
America and England, makes labor produce more 
in Paris than elsewhere. A Yirsrinian thinks it a 
disgrace to bo dressed in home-spun, because home- 
spun is unfashionable. The Frenchman prides him- 
self on being a Frenchman ; all other people affect 
the cosmopolitan. 

The tendency of all this is to transfer all wealth 
to London, New York and Paris, and reduce the 
civilization of Christendom to a miserable copy of 
French civilization, itself an indifferent copy of 
Roman civilization, which was an imitation, but a 
falling off from that of Greece. 

We pay millions monthly for French silks, French 



88 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

wines, French brandy, and French trinkets, al- 
though we can and do make as comfortable articles 
for dress, and as good liquors, at home. But we 
despise ourselves, and admire the French, and give 
four hours of American labor for one of French 
labor, just to be in the fashion. And what is our 
fashion ? To treat whatever is American with con- 
tempt. People who thus act are in a fair way to 
deserve and meet with from others, that contempt 
which they feel for themselves. The little States 
of Greece each had its dialect, and cultivated it, 
and took pride in it. Now, dialects are vulgar and 
provincial. We shall have no men like the Greeks, 
till the manners, dress, and dialect of gentlemen, 
betray, like the wines of Europe, the very neigh- 
borhood whence they come. So thought Mr. Cal- 
houn, and talked South Carolina dialect in the 
Senate. But for all that, it was the best English of 
the day. Its smack of provincialism gave it a 
higher flavor. 

We of the South teach political economy, be- 
cause it is taught in Europe. Yet political econo- 
my, and all other systems of moral science, which 
we derive from Europe, are tainted with abolition, 
and at war with our institutions. We must build up 
centres of trade, of thought and fashion at home. 
We must become national, nay, provincial, and 
cease to be imitative cosmopolitans. We must. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 89 

especially, have good colleges and universities, 
where young men may learn to admire their homes, 
not to despise them. 

The South feels the truth of all this, and after 
a while will begin to understand it. She has been 
for years earnestly and actively engaged in pro- 
moling the exclusive and protective policy, and 
preaching free trade, non-interference of govern- 
ment and 'let alone.' But she does not let alone. 
She builds roads and canals, encourages education, 
endows schools and colleges, improves river naviga- 
tion, excludes, or taxes heavily foreign show-men, 
foreign pedlars, sellers of clocks, &c. ; tries to build 
up by legislation Southern commerce, and by State 
legislation to multiply and encourage industrial 
pursuits. Protection by the State Government is 
her established policy — and that is the only expe- 
dient or constitutional protection. It is time for 
her to avow her change of policy and opinion, and 
to throw Adam Smith, Say, Ricardo & Co., in the 
fire. 

We want American customs, habits, manners, 
dress, manufactures, modes of thought, modes of 
expression, and language. We should encourage 
national and even State peculiarities ; for there are 
peculiarities and differences in the wants and situa- 
tions of all people, that require provincial and na- 
tional, not cosmopolitan, institutions and produc- 
tions. Take language, for instance. It is a thing 



90 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

of natural growth and development, and adapts 
itself naturally to the changes of time and circum- 
stance. It is never ungrammatical as spoken by 
children, but always expressive, practical and nat- 
ural. Nature is always grammatical, and language, 
the child of nature, w^ould continue so, but for the 
grammarians, who, with their Procrustean rules, 
disturb its proportions, destroy its variety and 
adaptation, and retard its growth. They are to lan- 
guage what dentists are to teeth : they more often 
injure it than improve it. 

Grammar, lexicography, and rhetoric, applied to 
language, destroy its growth, variety and adapta- 
bility — stereotype it, make it at once essentially 
a dead language, and unfit for future use ; for new 
localities, and changes of time and circumstances, 
beget new ideas, and require new words and 
new combinations of words. Centralization and 
cosmopolitanism have precisely the same eifect. 
They would furnish a common language from the 
centre, which is only fully expressive and compre- 
hensive at that centre. Walking and talking are 
equally natural, and talking masters and walking 
masters equally useless. Neither can foresee and 
provide for the thousands of new circumstances 
which make change of language, or varieties of 
movement necessary. Nature is never at a loss, 
and is the only reliable dancing master and gram- 
mar teacher. She is always graceful and appro- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 91 

priate, and always ready to adapt herself to 
changes of time, situation and circumstances. 

Paris is becoming the universal model and gram- 
mar of Christendom ; nothing is right unless it be 
a la Parisienne. Now, in truth, nothing can be 
right, natural, appropriate, or in good taste, out- 
side of Paris, that is Parisienne. When w^ill our 
monkey imitative world cease to sacrifice millions 
of money, cease to show its want of good sense 
and propriety, and cease to render itself ridiculous 
by aping, what, in the nature of things, is unsuita- 
ble, inappropriate, and unnatural ? Fashion, aided 
by free trade and centralization, is subjecting us to 
the dominion of Parisian thought ; and commerce, 
by means of the same agencies, makes us tributa- 
ries to London. Trade and fashion conquer faster 
than arms. 

After the Romans had conquered Greece, Athens 
became the school and centre of thought for the 
civiKzed world. Men had but one set of ideas, but 
one set of models to imitate, in the whole range of 
the fine arts. Inventiveness and originality ceased, 
and genius was subdued. The rule of Horace, 
"- Nullius addictus in verba maghtri jurare,'' was 
versed, and men ceased to think for themselves, 
but looked to the common fountain of thought at 
Athens ; where the teachers of mankind borrowed 
all their ideas from the past. Improvement and 
progress ceased, and imitation, chaining the pre- 



92 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

sent to the car of the past, soon induced rapid re- 
trogression. Thus, we think centralization of 
thought occasioned the decline of civilization. 
Northern invaders introduced new ideas, broke up 
centralization, arrested imitation, and begot origin- 
ality and inventiveness. Thus a start was given to 
a new and Christian civilization. Now, a centrali- 
zation occasioned by commerce and fashion, threat- 
ens the overthrow of our civilization, as arms and 
conquest overthrew the ancient. 

The ill effect of centralization of thought, whe- 
ther its centre be the past, or some locality of the 
present, is apparent in the arts and literature of 
the Latin nations of Europe. France, Spain and 
Italy, though possessed of more genius, have dis- 
played less originality than England and Germany. 
French art is a mere re-hash of Roman art, and 
very inferior to its original. The natural growth, 
changes and adaptation of language, are admirably 
described by Horace in his De Arte Poetica. He 
makes a great blunder in advising the forming and 
compounding words from the Greek, however; for 
the very want that occasions new words, shows 
that they cannot be supplied from the past. In the 
passage we are about to quote, he seems to have 
seen and deplored the advent of that age of rule 
and criticism that was to stereotype language, 
thought, art itself, prevent progress, and inaugu- 
rate decline. From Horace's day, criticism ruled, 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 93 

language and art were stereotyped, and the world 
declined : 

"Dixeris egregi^, notum si callida verbum, 
Reddiderit junctura novum : si forth necesse est 
Indiciis monstrare recentibus abdita rerum, 
Fingere cinctutis non exaudita Cethegis 
Continget; dabiturque licentia sumpta pudenter; 
Et nova fictaque nuper habebunt verba fidem, si 
Grseco fonte cadant, parce detorta. Quid autem 
CEecilio, Plantoque dabit Romanus, ademptum 
Virgilio, Varioque ? ego cur acquirere pauca 
Si possum, invideor ; cum lingua Catonis et Enni 
Sermonem patrium ditaverit, et nova rerum 
Nomina protulerit? Licuit, semperque licebit 
Signatum prsesente nota procudere nomen. 
Ut silvEB foliis pronos mutantur in aunos, 
Prima cadunt ; ita verborum vetus interit astas, 
Et juvenum rituflorent modo nata, vigentque." 

Italy, of the middle ages, imbibed more of the 
Christian and chivalric element, threw off for a 
while imitation and subserviency to the past, and 
shone forth with brilliant originality in all the 
works of art. But she, like France, has relapsed 
into imitation of the antique, and falls far below 
either Roman or mediaeval art. With the age of 
Cervantes, Spanish genius expired. His happy ridi- 
cule expelled the absurdities of Knight Errantry, 
but unfortunately expelled, at the same time, the 
new elements of thought which Christianity and 
Chivalry had introduced into modern literature. 
They were its only progressive elements, in the 



94 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

Latin nations of Europe, who in all else were mere 
Romans. 

Fenelon's Telemaque is a servile imitation of Vir- 
gil's ^neid, and that is an equally servile imita- 
tion of Homer. Each copy falls below the ori- 
ginal. 

Nothing shows so strongly the want of origin- 
ality and want of independence of taste and thought 
among these Latin nations, as their contempt for 
Shakspea.re. He violates all the rules of Greek 
and Roman art, and erects a higher art of his own ; 
but Frenchmen, Italians, and Spaniards, have no 
tastes and no ideas differing from, or in advance of, 
the ancients, and can neither understand nor appre- 
ciate the genius of Shakspeare. In Germany, he 
is almost as much read and admired as in England. 

Imitation, grammar and slavery suit the masses. 
Liberty and Laissez faire, the men of genius, and 
the men born to command. Genius, in her most 
erratic flights, represents a higher Grammar than 
Dr. Blair or Lindlay Murray — the grammar of pro- 
gressive nature. To secure true progress, we must 
unfetter genius, and chain down mediocrity. Lib- 
erty for the few — Slavery, in every form, for the 
mass ! 

The rules of art destroy art. Homer never 
could have produced the Iliad, had he learned 
grammar and rhetoric and criticism. 'Tis well for 
the world, he lived before Longinus. Euripides, 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 95 

Sophocles, and Aristophanes, and the Greek Mas- 
ters in Sculpture and Painting, knew nothing of 
the rules of art and canons of criticism. Without 
the modern helps to art, Grecian art so far excelled 
ours, that it is a popular theory that they possessed 
an Ideal that has been lost. Early in the days of 
the Roman Empire, the rhetoricians, by attempting 
to teach eloquence by rule, so corrupted it, that the 
Emperors found it necessary to banish them from 
Rome. 

We are no doubt indebted to the ignorance of the 
ancients for the invention of Gothic architecture. 
No one taught to reverence Greek architecture, 
would have violated its rules by imitating the 
Gothic. 

When about the time of the Reformation, the 
study of the ancients was revived, each Gothic 
spire stopped half way in its course towards heaven. 
Mediaeval art expired : — and now the world has no 
art, but basely copies the past. 

Had Shakspeare been as learned as Ben Jon- 
son, he would have written no better than Ben 
Jonson. The lofty genius of Milton would have 
created a glorious English epic, had he not trav- 
elled too much abroad, and dwelt too much with 
the past. The Paradise Lost is a splendid piece 
of Mosaic, made up of bits of Greek and Roman 
mythology, Hebrew theology, Christian morality. 



96 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

Mediaeval romance, set in the purest Anglo-Saxon, 
twisted into Latin collocation. 'Tis the song of the 
mocking-bird. 

What, then ? Shall we not in boyhood sojourn 
and linger at Athens and at Rome, nor in manhood 
travel into France and Italy? 

Est modus 171 rebus. Study the past, but be 
careful not to copy it, and never travel abroad 
until age has matured your love and respect for 
your native land. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 97 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE WORLD IS TOO LITTLE GOVERNED. 

Whether -with reason or with instinct blest, 
All enjoy that power that suits them best ; 
Order is Heaven's first law, and this confessed, 
Some are, and must be greater than the rest — 
More rich, more wise ; but who infers from hence 
That such are happier, shocks all common sense. 
Heaven to mankind impartial, we confess, 
If all are equal in their happiness ; 
But mutual wants this happiness increase, 
All nature's diiFerence, keeps all nature's peace: 
Condition, circumstance, is not the thing; 
Bliss is the same, in subject, or in king ! 

Pope. 

Mobs, secret associations, insurance companies, 
and social and communistic experiments, are strik- 
ing features and characteristics of our day, outside 
of slave society. They are all attempting to sup- 
ply the defects of regular governments, which have 
carried the "Let alone" practice so far, that one- 
third of mankind are let alone to indulge in such 
criminal immoralities as they please, and another 
third to starve. Mobs {vide California) supply the 
deficiencies of a defective police, and insurance 
companies and voluntary unions and associations 
5 



98 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

afford that security and protection which govern- 
ment, under the lead of political economy, has 
ceased to render. 

A lady remarked to us, a few days since, " that 
society was like an army, in which the inferior 
officers were as necessary as the commander-in- 
chief. Demoralization and insubordination ensue 
if you dispense with sergeants and corporals in an 
army, and the same effects result from dispensing 
with guardians, masters and heads of families in 
society." We don't know whether she included 
the ladies in her ideas of the heads of families ; 
protesting against such construction of her lan- 
guage, we accept and thank her for her illustration. 
Rev'd Nehemiah Adams has a similar thouo;ht in 
his admirable work, "A Southside View of Slave- 
ry," which we regret is not before us. On some 
public occasion in Charleston, he was struck with 
the good order and. absence of all dissipation, and 
very naively asked where was their mob. He was 
informed that " they were at work." He imme- 
diately perceived that slavery was an admirable 
police institution, and moralizes very wisely on the 
occasion. Slavery is an indispensable police insti- 
tution ; — especially so, to check the cruelty and 
tyranny of vicious and depraved husbands and pa- 
rents. Husbands and parents have, in theory and 
practice, a power over their subjects more despotic 
than kings ; and the ignorant and vicious exercise 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 99 

their power more oppressively than kings. Every 
man is not fit to be king, yet all must have wives 
and children. Put a master over them to check 
their power, and we need not resort to the unnatu- 
ral remedies of woman's rights, limited marriages, 
voluntary divorces, and free love, as proposed by 
the abolitionists. 

Mr. Carlyle says, " Among practical men the idea 
prevails that government can do nothing but ' keep 
the peace.' They say all higher tasks are unsafe 
for it, impossible for it, and, in fine, not necessary 
for it or for us. Truly, it is high time that same 
beautiful notion of No-Government sliould take 
itself away. The world is daily rushing towards 
wreck whilst it lasts. If your government is to be 
a constituted anarchy, what issue can it have? Our 
own interest in such government is, that it would 
be kind enough to cease and go its way before the 
inevitable WTCck." 

The reader will excuse us for so often introducing 
the thoughts and words of others. We do so not 
only for the sake of their authority, but because 
they express our own thoughts better than we can 
express them ourselves. In truth, we deal out our 
thoughts, facts and arguments in that irregular and 
desultory way in which we acquired them. We 
are no regular built scholar — have pursued no 
"royal road to mathematics," nor to anything else. 



100 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

We have, by observation and desultory reading, 
picked up our information by the wayside, and en- 
deavored to arrange, generalize and digest it for 
ourselves. To learn "to forget," is almost the 
only thing v^e have labored to learn. We have 
been so bored through life by friends with dyspep- 
tic memories, who never digest wdiat they read, 
because they never forget it, who retain on their 
intellectual stomachs in gross, crude, undigested, 
and unassimilated form, every thing that they read, 
and retail and repeat it in that undigested form to 
every good-natured listener : we repeat, that we 
iiave been so bored by friends wdth good memories, 
that we have resolved to endeavor to express what 
was useful out of facts, and then to throw the 
facts aw^ay. A great memory is a disease of the 
mind, which we are surprised no medical writer has 
noticed. The lunatic asylum should make provision 
for those affected with this disease ; for, though less 
dangerous, they are far more troublesome and an- 
noying than any other class of lunatics. Learning, 
observation, reading, are only useful in the general, 
as they add to the growth of the mind. Undigested 
and unforgotten, they can no more have this effect, 
than undigested food on the stomach of a dyspeptic 
can add to his physical stature. We thought once 
this thing was original w^ith us, but find that Say 
pursued this plan in writing his Political Economy. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 101 

He first read all the books he could get hold of on 
this su])jcct, and then took time to forget them, 
before he began to write. 

We will not trouble the reader further, for the 
present, with our egotisms or our arguments, but 
refer him to the whole of Carljle's " Latter Day 
Pamphlets," to prove that "the world is too little 
governed," and, therefore, is going to wreck. We 
say, to the whole of those pamjihlets, for that is 
their one, great leading idea. We also add an ex- 
tract from the speech of Ulysses, in the play of 
Troilus and Cressida, that beautifully illustrates 
and enforces our thought. We give the extract 
because it is a play that few read, it being, on the 
whole, far inferior to Shakspeare's other plays, and 
by few considered as wholly, if at all, his work : 

"The heavens themselves, the planets and this centre, 
Observe degree, priority, and place, 
Insisture, course, proportion, season, form, 
Office and custom, in all line of order: 
And, therefore, is the glorious planet, Sol, 
In nobler eminence enthron'd and spher'd 
Amidst the other; whose med'cinable eye 
Corrects the ill aspects of planets evil, 
And posts, like the commandment of a king. 
Sans check, to good and bad: But, when the planets, 
In evil mixture, to disorder wander, 
AVhat plagues, and what portents? what mutiny? 
What raging of the sea? shaking of earth? 
Commotion in the winds? frights, changes, horrors. 
Divert and crack, rend and deracinate, 



102 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

The unity and married calm of states 

Quite from their fixture ? 0, when degree is shak'd, 

Which is the ladder of all high designs, 

The enterprise is sick ! How could communities, 

Degrees in schools, and brotherhoods in cities, 

Peaceful commerce from dividable shores, 

The primogenitive and due of birth, 

Prerogative of age, crowns, sceptres, laurels, 

But by degree, stand in authentic place? 

Take but degree away, untune that string, 

And, hark, what discord follows! each thing meets 

In mere oppugnancy : The bounded waters 

Should lift their bosoms higher than the shores. 

And make a sop of all this solid globe : 

Strength should be lord of imbecility, 

And the rude son should strike his father dead: 

Force should be right; or, rather, right and wrong. 

(Between whose endless jar justice resides,) 

Should lose their names, and so should justice too. 

We promised to write no more in this chapter ; 
but, like Parthos, when ''we have an idea," we 
want to give others the benefit of it. We agree with 
Mr. Jefferson, that all men have natural and ina- 
lienable rights. To violate or disregard such rights, 
is to oppose the designs and plans of Providence, 
and cannot "come to good." The order and sub- 
ordination observable in the physical, animal and 
human world, show that some are formed for higher, 
others for lower stations — the few to command, the 
many to obey. We conclude that about nineteen 
out of every twenty individuals have "a natural 
and inalienable right" to be taken care of and 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 103 

protected ; to have guardians, trustees, husbands, or 
masters ; in other words, they have a natural and 
inalienable right to be slaves. The one in twenty 
are as clearly born or educated, or some way fitted 
for command and liberty. Not to make them rulers 
or masters, is as great a violation of natural right, 
as not to make slaves of the mass. A very little 
individuality is useful and necessary to society, — 
much of it begets discord, chaos and anarchy. 

Note. — Since writing this chapter, we have re- 
ceived our copy of Mr. Adams's work. We con- 
gratulate ourselves on our success in "learning to 
forget." Here is the passage to which we refer : 

"One consequence of the disposal of the colored people, 
as to individual control, is the absence of mobs. That 
fearful element in society, an irresponsible and low class, 
is diminished at the South. Street brawls and conflicts 
between two races of laboring people, or the ignorant and 
more excitable portions of different religious denomina- 
tions, are mostly unknown within the bounds of slavery. 
Our great source of disturbance at the North, jealousy 
and collisions between Protestant and Irish Roman Cath- 
olic laborers, is obviated there. 

"When the remains of Mr. Calhoun were brought to 
Charleston, a gentleman from a free State in the proces- 
sion said to a southern gentleman, "Where is your under- 
swell ?" referring to the motley crowd of men and boys 
of all nations which gather in most of our large places on 



4 
104 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

public occasions. He was surprised to learn that those 
respectable, well-dressed, well-behaved colored men and 
boys on the sidewalks, were a substitute for that class of 
population which he had elsewhere been accustomed to 
see with repugnant feelings on public occasions. '^ 

As we are on the subject of Mr. Adams's book, 
we will give another extract from it, confirmatory 
of our doctrines : 

" There is another striking peculiarity of Southern 
society which is attributable to slavery, and is very in- 
teresting to a Northerner at the present day. While the 
colored people are superstitious and excitable, popular 
delusions and fanaticisms do not prevail among them. 
That class of society among us in which these things get 
root, has a substitute in the colored population. Spiritual 
rappings, biology, second-adventism, Mormonism, and the 
whole spawn of errors which infest us, do not find sub- 
jects at the South. There is far more faith in the South, 
taken as a whole, than with us. Many things which we 
feel called to preach against here are confined to the 
boundaries of the Free States; yet the white population 
are readers of books, though not of newspapers, perhaps 
more generally than we. That vast amount of active but 
uninstructed mind with us, which seizes every new thing, 
and follows brilliant or specious error, and erects a folly 
into a doctrine with a sect annexed, and so infuses doubt 
or contempt of things sacred into many minds, is no ele- 
ment in Southern life. This is one reason why there is 
more faith, less infidelity, at the South, than at the 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 105 

North. The opinions of a lower class on moral and reli- 
gious subjects, have a powerful effect on the classes above 
them; more than is generally acknowledged; and hence 
we derive an argument in favor of general education, in 
which moral and religious principles shall have their im- 
portant place.'^ 



106 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 



CHAPTER YIII. 

LIBERTY AND SLAVERY. 

Effugit imago, 
Par livibus yentis, volucri que simillima somno. 

It seems to us that the vain attempts to define 
liberty in theory, or to secure its enjoyment in 
practice, proceed from the fact that man is natu- 
rally a social and gregarious animal, subject, not by 
contract or agreement, as Locke and his followers 
assume, but by birth and nature, to those restric- 
tions of liberty which are expedient or necessary to 
secure the good of the human hive, to which he 
may belong. There is no such thing as natural 
human liberty, because it is unnatural for man to 
live alone and without the pale and government of 
society. Birds, and beasts of prey, who are not 
gregarious, are naturally free. Bees and herds 
are naturally subjects or slaves of society. Such is 
the theory of Aristotle, promulged more than two 
thousand years ago, generally considered true for 
two thousand years, and destined, we hope, soon 
again to be accepted as the only true theory of 
government and society. 

Modern social reformers, except Mr. Carlyle, 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 107 

proceeding upon the theory of Locke, which is the 
opposite of Aristotle, propose to dissolve and disin- 
tegrate society; falsely supposing that they thereby 
follow nature. There is not a human tie that binds 
man to man, that they do not propose to cut "sheer 
asunder." 'Tis true, after their work of destruc- 
tion is finished, they see the necessity of society ; 
but instead of that natural and historical society, 
which has usually existed in the world, with its gra- 
dations of rank and power, its families and its 
slaves, they propose wholly to disregard the natu- 
ral relations of mankind, and profanely to build up 
states, like Fourierite Phalansteries, or Mormon 
and Oneida villages, where religion shall be ban- 
ished, and in which property, wife and children 
shall be held somewhat in common. These social 
establishments, under a self-e]ected despotism like 
that of Joe Smith, or Brigham Young, become pa- 
triarchal, and succeed, so long as such despotism 
lasts. That is, when the association loses the char- 
acter intended by its founders, and acquires a des- 
potic head like other family associations, it works 
well, because it works naturally. But this success 
can only be temporary ; for nothing but the strong 
rule of a Cromwell or Joe Smith can keep a society 
together, that wants the elements of cohesion, in 
the natural ties that bind man to man : and Crom- 
wells and Joe Smiths are not to be found every 
day. 



108 CANNIBALS ALL ; OR, 

'Tis an historical fact, that this family associa- 
tion, this patriarchal government, for purposes of 
defence against enemies from without, gradually 
merges into larger associations of men under a 
common government or ruler. This latter is the 
almost universal, and we may thence infer, natural 
and normal condition of civilized man. In this 
state of society there is no liberty for the masses. 
Liberty has been exchanged by nature for security. 

What is falsely called Free Society, is a very re- 
cent invention. It proposes to make the weak, 
ignorant and poor, free, by turning them loose in a 
world owned exclusively by the few (whom nature 
and education have made strong, and whom prop- 
erty has made stronger.) to get a living. In the 
fanciful state of nature, where property is unappro- 
priated, the strong have no weapons but superior 
j)hysical and mental power with which to oppress 
the weak. Their power of oppression is increased 
a thousand fold, when they become the exclusive 
owners of the earth and all the things thereon. 
They are masters without the obligations of mas- 
ters, and the poor are slaves without the rights of 
slaves. 

It is generally conceded, even by abolitionists, 
that the serfs of Europe were liberated because the 
multitude of laborers, and their competition as free- 
men to get employment, had rendered free labor 
cheaper than slave labor. But, strange to say, few 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. • 109 

seem to have seen that this is in fact asserting that 
they were less free after emancipation than before. 
Their obligation to labor was increased ; for they 
were compelled to labor more than before to obtain 
a livelihood, else their free labor would not have 
been cheaper than their labor as slaves. They lost 
something in liberty, and everything in rights — for 
emancipation liberated or released the masters from 
all their burdens, cares and liabilities, whilst it in- 
creased both the labors and the cares of the libe- 
rated serf. In our chapter on the Decay of Eng- 
lish Liberty, we show that the whole struggle in 
England has been to oppress the working man, 
pull down the powers, privileges and prerogatives 
of the throne, the nobility, and the church, and to 
elevate the property-holding class. The extracts 
from the Era and Northern Churchman, in another 
chapter, will further elucidate this subject. We 
promised to confirm our doctrine of the illusory and 
undefinable character of liberty and slavery, by 
extracts from standard authors. 

Paley on Civil Liberty : 

^^ To do what we will, is natural liberty : to do what 
we will, consistently with the interest of the community 
to which we belong, is civil liberty; that is to say, the 
only liberty to be desired in a state of civil society. 

I should wish, no doubt, to be allowed to act, in every 



110 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

instance^ as I pleased ; but I reflect, that the rest also of 
mankind would then do the same; in which state of 
universal independence and self-direction, I should meet 
with so 4nany checks and obstacles to my own will, from 
the interference and opposition of other men's, that not 
only my happiness, but my liberty, would be less than 
whilst the whole community were subject to the dominion 
of equal laws. 

The boasted liberty of a state of nature exists only in 
a state of solitude. In every kind and degree of union 
and intercourse with his species, it is possible that the 
liberty of the individual may be augmented by the very 
laws which restrain it; because he may gain more from 
the limitation of other men's freedom than he sufi'ers by 
the diminution of his own. Natural liberty is the right 
of common upon a waste ; civil liberty is the safe, exclu- 
sive, unmolested enjoyment of a cultivated enclosure. 

The definitions which have been framed of civil lib- 
erty, and which have become the subject of much unne- 
cessary altercation, are most of them adapted to this 
idea. Thus, one political writer makes the essence of 
the subject's liberty to consist in his being governed by 
no laws but those to which he hath actually consented ; 
another is satisfied with an indirect and virtual consent; 
another, again, places civil liberty in the separation of 
the legislative and executive offices of government ; ano- 
ther in the being governed by laio ; that is, by known, 
preconstituted; inflexible rules of action and adjudica- 
tion ; a fifth, in the exclusive right of the people to tax 
themselves by their own representatives; a sixth, in free- 
dom and purity of elections of representatives; a sev- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. Ill 

enth, in the control which the democratic part of the 
constitution possesses over the military establishment.'' 

Montesquieu on Liberty: 

'' There is no word that has admitted of more various 
significations, and has made more different impressions 
on human minds, than that of Ubert?/. Some have taken 
it for a faculty of deposing a person on whom they had 
conferred a tyrannical authority ; others, for the power 
of choosing a person whom they are obliged to obey; 
others, for the right of bearing arms, and of being 
thereby enabled to use violence ; others, for the privilege 
of being governed by a native of their own country, or 
by their own laws. A certain nation for a long time 
thought that liberty consisted in the privilege of wearing 
a long beard. 

Some have annexed this name to one form of govern- 
ment, in exclusion of others ; those who had a republican 
taste applied it to this government; those who liked a 
monarchical state, gave it to monarchies. Thus, they 
all have applied the name of liberty to the government 
most conformable to their own customs and inclinations ; 
and as in a republic, people have not so constant and so 
present a view of the institutions they complain of, and 
likewise as the laws there seem to speak more, and the 
executors of the laws least, it is generally attributed to 
republics, and denied to monarchies. In fine, as in 
democracies, the people seem to do very near whatever 
they please, liberty has been placed in this sort of gov- 



112 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

ernment, and the power of the people has been con- 
founded with their liberty. 

It is true, that in democracies the people seem to do 
what they please ; but political liberty does not consist 
in an unrestrained freedom. In governments, that is, in 
societies directed by laws, liberty can consist only in the 
power of doing what we ought to Vill, and in not being 
constrained to do what we ought not to will. 

We must have continually present to our minds the 
difference between independence and liberty. Liberty is 
a right of doing whatever the laws permit -, and if a citi- 
zen could do what they forbid, he would no longer be 
possessed of liberty, because all his fellow citizens would 
have the same power.'' 

Blackstone on Liberty : 

^^ The absolute right of man, considered as a free 
agent, endowed with discernment to know good from 
evil, and with power of choosing those measures which 
appear to him to be most desirable, are usually summed 
up in one general appellation, and denominated the natu- 
ral liberty of mankind. 

This natural liberty consists properly in a power of 
acting as one thinks fit, without any restraint or control, 
unless by the law of nature ; being a right inherent in 
us by birth, and one of the gifts of God to man at his 
creation, when he endued him with the fl,iculty of free 
will. But every man, when he enters into society, gives 
up a part of his natural liberty, as the price of so valua- 
ble a purchase; and, in consideration of receiving the 
advantages of mutual commerce, obliges himself to con- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 113 

form to those laws wLicli tlie community has thought 
proper to establish. And this species of legal obedience 
and conformity is infinitely more desirable than that wild 
and savage liberty which is sacrificed to obtain it. For, 
no man that considers a moment, would wish to retain 
the absolute, uncontrolled power of doing what he 
pleases ; the consequence of which is, that every other 
man would also have the same power; and then there 
would be no security to individuals in any of the enjoy- 
ments of life. Political, therefore, or civil liberty, which 
is that of a member of society, is no other than natural 
liberty, so far restrained by human laws, (and no far- 
ther,) as is necessary and expedient for the general ad- 
vantage of the public. Hence, we may collect that the 
law, which restrains a man from doing mischief to his 
fellow citizens, thou<2:h it diminishes the natural, in- 
creases the civil liberty of mankind ; but that every wan- 
ton and causeless restraint of the will of the subject, 
whether practiced by a monarch, a nobility, or a popular 
assembly, is a degree of tyranny : nay, that even laws 
themselves, whether made with or without our consent, 
if they regulate and constrain our conduct in matters of 
mere indifference, without any good end in view, are reg- 
ulations destructive of liberty; whereas, if any public 
advantage can arise from observing such precepts, the 
control of our private inclinations, in one or two particu- 
lar points, will conduce to preserve our general freedom 
in others of more importance, by supporting that state of 
society which can alone secure our independence. Thus 
the statute of King Edward IV, which forbade the fine 
gentlemen of those times (under the degree of a lord) 



114 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

to wear pikes upon their shoes or toots of more than two 
inches in length, was a law that savored of oppression ; 
because, however ridiculous the fashion then in use 
might appear, the restraining it by pecuniary penalties, 
could serve no purpose of common utility. But the 
statute of King Charles II, which prescribes a thing 
seemingly as indilFerent, (a dress for the dead, who are 
all ordered to be buried in woollen,) is a law consistent 
with public liberty; for it encourages the staple trade, on 
which, in great measure, depends the universal good of 
the nation. So that laws, when prudently framed, are 
by no means subversive, but rather introductive of lib- 
erty ) for, (as Mr. Locke has well observed,) where there 
is no law, there is no freedom. But then, on the other 
hand, that constitution or frame of government — that 
system of laws, is alone calculated to maintain civil lib- 
erty, which leaves the subject entire master of his own 
conduct, except in those points wherein the public good 
requires some direction or restraint. 

The idea and practice of this political or civil liberty, 
flourish in their highest vigor in those kingdoms where 
it falls little short of perfection, and can only be lost or 
destroyed by the folly or demerits of its owner : the leg- 
islature, and of course the laws of England, being pecu- 
liarly adapted to the preservation of this inestimable 
blessing even in the meanest subject. 

Very different from the modern constitutions of other 
States on the continent of Europe, and from the genius 
of the imperial law, which, in general, are calculated to 
vest an arbitrary and despotic power of controlling the 
actions of the subject, in the prince or in a few grandees. 



SLAVES 'WITHOUT MASTERS. 115 

And this spirit of liberty is so deeply implanted in our 
constitution, and rooted even in our very soil, that a 
slave, or a negro, the moment he lands in England, falls 
under the protection of the laws, and so far becomes a 
freeman, though the master's right to his service may 
possibly still continue. 

Next to personal security, the law of England regards, 
asserts and preserves the personal liberty of individuals. 
This personal liberty consists in the power of locomo- 
tion, of changing situation, or removing one's person to 
whatever place one's inclinations may direct, without im- 
prisonment or restraint, unless by due course of law. 
Concerning which, we may make the same observations 
as upon the preceding article ; that it is a right strictly 
natural ; that the laws of England have never abridged 
it without sufficient cause ', and, that in this kingdom, it 
can never be abridged at the mere discretion of the ma- 
gistrate, without the explicit permission of the laws." 

Now, let the reader examine and study these defi- 
nitions of Liberty by Paley, Montesquieu and 
Blackstone, and he will see that they are in pursuit 
of an ignis fatuus that eludes their grasp. He 
W'ill see more, that their liberty is a mere modifica- 
tion of slavery. That each of them proposes that 
degree of restraint, restriction and control, that 
will redound to the general good. That each is in 
pursuit of good government, not liberty. Govern- 
ment pre-supposes that liberty is surrendered as the 
price of security. The degree of government must 



116 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

depend on tlie moral and intellectual condition of 
those to be governed. Take, for instance, Black- 
stone's definition of civil liberty, and our negro 
slaves enjoy liberty, because the restrictions on 
their free Avill and free agency not only redound to 
public good, but are really necessary to the protec- 
tion and governnment of themselves. We mean to 
involve ourselves in no such absurdities. Negroes, 
according to Blackstone, Paley and Montesquieu, 
although slaves, are free, because their liberty is 
only so far restricted as the public interest and 
their own good require. Our theory is, that they 
are not free, because God and nature, and the gen- 
eral good and their own good, intended them for 
slaves. They enjoy all the rights calculated to pro- 
mote their own interests, or the public good. They 
are, at the South, well governed and well protected. 
These are the aims of all social institutions, and of 
all governments. There can be no liberty where 
there is government; but there may be security for 
good government. This the slave has in the selfish 
interest of the master and in his domestic iiiFection. 
The free laborer has no such securities. It is the 
interest of employers to kill them off as fast as 
possible ; and they never fail to do it. 

We do not mean to say that the negro slave en- 
joys liberty. But v/e do say that he is well and 
• properly governed, so as best to promote his own 
good and that of society. We do mean to say fur- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 117 

tlier, that what we liave quoted from these great 
authors, is all fudge and nonsense. Liberty is un- 
attainable; and if attainable, not desirable. 

Liberty of locomotion, which Blackstone bbasts 
of as one of the rights of Englishmen, belongs to 
the mass of them less than to other people. For 
five hundred years the poor laws have confined the 
poor to their parishes, denied them the right to bar- 
gain for their own wages, and as late as 1725, set 
them up in stalls and shambles for hire, like cattle. 
Liberty in England, as in Rome and Grreece, has 
been, and is now, the privilege of the few — not the 
right of the many. But in Rome, Greece, and the 
Southern States of America, the many have gained 
in protection what they lost in liberty. In Eng- 
land, the masses have neither liberty nor protec- 
tion. They are slaves without masters. This right 
of locomotion, of choosino; or chano-ing: their domi- 
cil, is not only denied to the mass of the poor, but 
in all countries as well as in England, to wives, to 
children, to wards, apprentices, soldiers, sailors, 
convicts, lunatics and idiots. Take, then, this test 
of liberty, and how little of it is there in England ! 
But, in fact, there is a very large nomadic class of 
beggars, rogues, and journeymen workmen, who 
are always wandering, and yet, who are the most 
wretched members of society and its greatest pests. 
So much for locomotion. 

Great as the difficulty is to determine what is 



118 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

Liberty, to ascertain and agree on what constitutes 
Slavery is still greater. Slavery, in its technical 
form, has been almost universal, yet not exactly 
alik^ in all its circumstances and all its regulations 
in any two ages, or in any two countries. In very 
many ancient States, the power of life and death 
was vested in the master.- In most countries, the 
slave cannot acquire or hold property legally. In 
all, he holds more or less by the permission. In 
many, his legal right to separate property is pro- 
tected by law. Even in Cuba, he can compel his 
master to emancipate him, upon offering an ade- 
quate price; and in some cases of irreconcilable 
disagreement, force his master to sell him to an- 
other master. It is remarkable at first view, that 
in Cuba, wdiere the law attempts to secure mild 
•treatment to the slave, he is inhumanly treated; 
and in Virginia, where there is scarce any law to 
protect him, he is very humanely governed and pro- 
vided for. In Cuba, many of the slaves are sav- 
ages, and do not elicit the domestic affection of the 
master, who sees in them little more than brutes. 
The master is, besides, often an absentee, and tho' 
overseers be far more humane than Irish rent-col- 
lectors, they have neither the interests nor feelings 
of resident masters. But the most efficient cause 
of cruelty and neglect, is the African slave trade, 
which makes it cheaper to buy than to rear slaves. 
In Virginia, the slaves have advanced much in mo- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 119 

rality, religion and intelligence, and their masters 
and mistresses, living on the farm with them, natu- 
rally become attached to them. Self-interest, how- 
ever, is everywhere the strongest motive to human 
conduct. Negroes are immensely valuable, and in 
crease rapidly in value and in numbers when well 
treated. The law of self-interest secures kind and 
humane treatment to Southern slaves. All the 
legislative ingenuity in the world will never enact 
so efficient a law in behalf of free laborers. 

During the decline of the Roman Empire, slavery 
became colonial or praedial. The slaves occupied 
the place of tenants or serfs, were ''adscript! soli," 
and could only be sold with the farm. Many anti- 
quarians consider the colonial slavery of the Ro- 
mans as the true origin of the feudal system. This 
kind of slavery was universal in Europe till a few 
centuries since, and now prevails to a great extent. 
The serfs of Russia, Poland, Turkey, and Hun- 
gary, are happier and better provided for than the 
free laborers of Western Europe. They have 
homes, and lands to cultivate. They work but 
little, because their wants are few and simple. 
They are not over-worked and under-fed, as are the 
free laborers of AYestern Europe. Hence, they 
never rise in riots and insurrections, burn houses, 
commit strikes, — nor do they emigrate. 

This form of slaverjn however, makes the master 
an idle absentee, depriving the slaves of his guar- 



120 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

dianship, his government, and his protection. By 
throwing large masses of the ignorant into exclu- 
sive association with each other, it promotes and in- 
creases ignorance, negligence and idleness. Men 
will not improve their condition who have no exam- 
ples to emulate and no teachers to instruct. Were 
their farms conducted as ours of the South, the 
wealthy w^ould have ample employment, and the 
slaves or serfs find in their masters examples, gov- 
ernors, teachers and protectors. 

The right to sell one's children, or one's self, 
into slavery has been very common, and is now 
practiced in China. The ancient Germans used to 
even stake their liberty at games of hazard. This 
w^ould never have been done, nor would the laws 
have permitted it, if the situation of the slave had 
been greatly inferior to that of the free. But how 
shall we class wives, children, wards, apprentices, 
prisoners, soldiers and sailors ? They are not free, 
because their personal liberty is controlled by the 
will of a superior ; not by mere law. They are 
liable to coijfinement and punishment by their su- 
periors, wdiose will stands in place of law as to 
them. They have no right of locomotion like that 
enjoyed by the free. They have no liberty secured 
by law ; — they are not free. Are they, therefore, 
slaves ? 

Paley defines slavery to 4&e, "An obligation to 
labor for the benefit of the master, without the 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 121 

contract or consent of the servant." The sick, the 
superannuated, the infirm, and tlie infant slaves are 
under no such obligation in theory or practice. 
The master is under an obligation, legally, theo- 
retically and practically, to labor for them. There- 
fore, the master of twenty slaves is always a slave 
himself. If he be a good man, he is the happier 
for performing his duties as slave to those classes 
of his slaves. But what becomes of that slavery of 
the ancients and of China, where the slave, by 
actual contract, sells himself? This is not slavery 
according to Paley. 

The great and glaring defect, however, of Paley 's 
definition is, that he omits the obligation on the 
master to provide for and protect the slave. 'Tis 
but half of a definition, and that half false. It 
does often' happen that the obligations of the master 
are more onerous than those of the slave. Yet 
Paley omits those obligations altogether. The 
slave, when capable to do so, must w-ork for the 
master ; but the master, at all times, must provide 
for the slave. If incapable of doing so, the law 
gives the slave a new master and protector. His 
situation is less honorable, but far more secure than 
that of the master. Definitions are perilous at- 
tempts. We never read one that a seventy-four w^ith 
all sail set might not drive through. We shall de- 
fine nothing ourselves, for we know that tliis is the 
6 



122 CANNIBALS ALL; ORj 

business of Omnipotence, that alone knows '' all 
things in heaven and on earth." 

AVe proceed to examine the attempted definitions 
of Montesquieu and Blackstone. Blackstone objects 
to the right to sell one's self, that the consideration 
enures to the buyer. This may or may not be so, ac- 
cording to the laws of the State where the contract 
is made. It is not a necessary feature of slavery, and 
cannot fairly be employed as an objection to it. In 
fact, the slaves of the South, in their houses, gardens, 
fruit, vegetables, pigs and fowls, hold more property 
than the peasantry of Europe, and are far better 
secured in its possession by their masters, than that 
peasantry is by the law. He further objects, that 
in case of absolute slavery, not only the liberty, but 
the life of the slave is at the master's disposal. 
This objection is false and puerile. In no civilized 
country has the master the right to kill his slave. 

The protection or support to Avhich the slave is 
entitled, would be an ample consideration of itself 
for the sale of his liberty. A much larger one 
than the capitalists of Europe would be willing to 
give ; for they all say that free labor is cheapest. 

Montesquieu thus defines slavery: — "Slavery, 
properly so called, is the establishment of a right 
which gives to one man such a power over another, 
as renders him absolute master of his life and for- 
tune." This is French liberty under the rule of 
the republican Bonapartes, and English liberty un- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 123 

cler Cromwell — not Southern slavery. France is 
always happy and prosperous with a master, and 
the masses in England look back to the Protector- 
ate with fond regret. These despots played the part 
of Southern masters. They forced the strong to 
support the weak, the rich to take care of the poor. 
The nations became two farms or families. West- 
ern Europe will soon have to choose between do- 
mestic slavery and universal slavery. 

Democracy and liberty are antagonistic; for lib- 
erty permits and encourages the weak to oppress 
the strong, whilst democracy proposes, so far as 
possible, to equalize advantages, by fairly dividino- 
the burdens of life, and rigidly enforcing the per- 
formance of every social duty by every member of 
society, according to his capacity and ability. 



124 CANNIBALS ALL ; OR, 



CHAPTER IX. 

PALEY ON EXPLOITATION. 

Paley maintains, to its fullest extent, the doc- 
trine of exploitation which we have endeavored to 
expound and illustrate in the last three chapters. 
Yet, neither Paley nor any of his readers were 
ever aware of its tremendous consequences. It is 
only when those consequences are pointed out, that 
the mind revolts at the theory. 

He saw and said, that capital paid labor no- 
thing, yet discovered no iniquity in the transac- 
tion. He saw that labor produced every thing — 
capital nothing, and '^ all that the capitalist does is, 
to distribute what others produce." He should 
have added, after retaining the '^ lion's share" him- 
self. Our whole theory is to be found in a single 
paragraph of Paley, and if there be nothing 
strange or monstrous in his theory, there can be 
nothing of the kind in ours ; for our theories are 
identical. Chapter 2, Book 3d of his philoso- 
phy, under the head of " The treatment of our do- 
mestics and dependants," he employs the following 
language: "Another reflection of a like tendency 
with the former is, that our obligation to them is much 



SLAVES WITHOUT Mi^STERS. 125 

greater than tlieirs to us. It is a mistake to sup- 
pose that tlio rich man maintains his servants, 
tradesmen, tenants and laborers : the" truth is, they 
maintain him. It is their industry which supplies 
his table, furnishes his wardrobe, builds his houses, 
adorns his equipage, provides his amusements. It 
is not the estate, but the labor employed on it, that 
pays his rents. All that lie does is, to distribute 
what others 2^'^^ dure ; ivhich is the least part of the 
business.'' He should have added, ''but far the 
most profitable part." 

A few additional truths, and this paragraph of 
Paley's would be an admirable description of " Can- 
nibals " above, and " Slaves without Masters," be- 
low. 

His servants are obliged to work as our slaves, 
not for pay, but for an allowance out of the pro- 
ceeds of their own labor. His employers, like our 
masters, only distribute something of their earnings 
to the laborers, giving them far less than masters 
give to slaves, retaining more to themselves — and 
hence "free laboris cheaper than slave labor." 

But Paley did not comprehend what he wrote. 
We, aided by the Socialists, will try to make it un- 
derstood by others. 

Philosophy cannot justify the relation between 
the free laborer, and the idle, irresponsible em- 
ployer. But, 'tis easy to justify that between mas- 
ter and slave. Their obligations are mutual and 



126 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

equal ; and if the master will superintend and pro- 
vide for the slave in sickness, in health, infancy 
and old age — if he will feed and clothe, and house 
him properly, guard his morals, and treat him 
kindly and humanely, he will make his slaves 
happy and profitable, and be himself a worthy, 
useful and conscientious man. 



SLAVES* WITHOUT MASTERS. 127 



CHAPTER X. 

OUR BEST WITNESSES AND MASTERS IN THE ART 

OF WAR. 

I think few worth damnation, save theii' kings ; 
And these but as a kind of quit-rent, to 
Assert my right as lord. 

Vision of Judgment. 

We intend this chapter as our trump card, and 
have kept it in reserve, because it is rash to "lead 
tramps." We could produce a cloud of witnesses, 
but should only protract the trial thereby. We 
call into court Horace Greely, Wm. Goodell, Gerrit 
Smith, Wm. Lloyd Garrison, and Stephen Pearle 
Andrews, and propose to prove by them (the actual 
leaders and faithful exponents of abolition,) that 
their object, and that of their entire party, is not 
only to abolish Southern slavery, but to abolish 
also, or greatly to modify, the relations of husband 
and wife, parent and child, the institution of pri- 
vate property of all kinds, but especially separate 
ownership of lands, and the institution of Christian 
churches as now existing in America. We further 
charge, that whilst actively engaged in attempts 
to abolish Southern slavery, they are busy, with 
equal activity and more promise of success, in at- 



128 CANNIBALS ALL;' OK, 

tempts to upset and re-organize society at the 
North. 

In convening these gentlemen as "witnesses, and 
also arraigning them on trial, we are actuated by 
no feelings of personal ill will or disrespect. We 
admire them all, and have had kindly intercourse 
and correspondence with some of them. They are 
historical characters, who would seek notoriety in 
order to further their schemes of setting the world 
to rights. We have no doubt of their sincere phi- 
lanthropy, and as little doubt, that they are only 
"paving hell with good intentions." We speak 
figuratively. We shall try their cause in the most 
calm and judicial temper. We would address each 
of them in language borrowed from Lord Byron : 

Why, 
My good old friend, for such I deem you, 
Though our diflFerent parties makeTls fight so shy, 
I ne'er mistake you for a personal foe ; 
Our difference is political, and I 
Trust that whatever may occur. 
You know my great respect for you, and this 
Makes me regret whatever you do amiss. 

Indeed, we should be ungrateful and discour- 
teous in the extreme, if we did not entertain kindly 
remembrance and make gentlemanly return for the 
generous reception and treatment we received, es- 
pecially from leading abolitionists, when w^e went 
north to personate Satan by defending Slavery. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTEKS. 129 

Though none agreed with us, none were made con- 
verts by us : 

Yet still between his darkness and liis brightness, 
There passed a mutual glance of great politeness. 

We will first call Mr. Wm. Goodell to the stand. 
His position as one of the most active leaders of 
the Gerrit Smith or Syracuse wing of abolition, 
would entitle his admissions and assertions of the 
failure of his own society to the greatest credence, 
since such admissions and assertions weaken his as- 
saults on the South, and must be reluctantly drawn 
from him ; but, independent of his peculiar posi- 
tion, his high character as a man, and his distinction 
as an author, should enlist attention and command 
respect for what he says. In his Democracy of 
Christianity, vol. 2d, page 197, he thus writes : 

^^ And what is tKis pride of wealth, after all, growing 
up into the aristocracy of wealth, the usurpations of 
wealth, the oppressions of wcv^th, grinding the masses of 
humanity into the dust to-day, throughout our modern 
Christendom, in the middle of our nineteenth century 
civilization and progress, with a hoof more flinty, more 
swinish, and MORE murderous (capitals ours) than that 
of semi-barbarous feudalism in its bloodiest days/' 

He understands the intolerable exploitation of 
capital better than we do, for he lives in a country 
where slavery has not stepped in to shield the la- 



130 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

borer. He, the laborer, is a " slave without a mas- 
ter," and his oppressors, ^'cannibals all." 

Mr. G's. book appears to us to carry the doctrine 
of human equality to a length utterly inconsistent 
with the power and control which ordinary Chris- 
tian marriage gives to the husband over the wife; 
yet he assures us he is the unflinching friend of 
Christian marriage. The purity of his sentiments 
revolt at the conclusions to which his abstract doc- 
trines inevitably lead. Yet his idea of Christian 
marriage may diifer, so far as the power of the hus- 
band is concerned, widely from ours. We are sure 
he would do nothing, designedly, to impair the 
purity and sacredness of the relation. 

Mr. G. is a Christian socialist, and looks to a prox- 
imate millenium to rectify the false relations of men 
and property, in his own society, and to the arm of 
the Federal Government to set things right in the 
South. Why not leave all to Providence, especially 
since the right of the Government to abolish South- 
ern slavery is denied ]fy all respectable authority 
outside of abolition ; and also by the Garrisonians, 
who are the most thorough-going of all abolitionists, 
and of all disorganizers. Mr. Goodell's plan of 
"rectifying human relations" at the North, by a 
millennium, is quite as common as that of Mr. 
Greely, Andrews and Owen, each of whom has dis- 
covered a new social science that they are sure will 
fit the world, because it wont fit a village. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 131 

We really think that a man of Mr. Goodell's 
nice sense of justice and propriety, should have 
hesitated long ere he invoked a God to do that 
which he would be ashamed to do himself. If it 
be wrong to strip the rich of their possessions, why 
hope or expect that God will perpetrate a wrong at 
which human conscience revolts, when it is pro- 
posed to be done by human agency. 

After an elaborate argument, to prove the advent 
of a millennial state of society, through the instru- 
mentality of Christianity, Mr. Goodell, on page 
510, vol. II, of his Democracy of Christianity, 
thus sums up and concludes: 

^^ Glance over, again, the items included in these pre- 
dictions: — The general and permanent prevalence of 
peace, — the result of justice, equity, security, and the 
actual possession, [italics his] by each and every one of 
^his vine and fig tree' — that is, of soil sufficient to pro- 
duce the needful fruits of the earth, or, in some way, a 
supjDly for his physical wants. 

"Add to this, the general difi"usion and great increase 
of knowledge, especially moral and religious knowledge, 
which includes the knowledge of social relations, duties 
and rights, — the knowledge that implies ^ wisdom,^ and 
that wisdom which begins with 'the fear of the Lord/ 
Next the application of all this knowledge, wisdom and 
fear of the Lord, to the concerns of civil government, in- 
somuch that 'the kingdoms of this world shall become the 
kingdoms of Christ,' and the dominion be given to The 



132 CANNIBALS ALL; OK, 

People, who at that period, shall have become purified 
and instructed by him, — who shall a'U be righteous, who 
^shall all know the Lord, from the least to the greatest,' 
and even Uhe feeble among them shall be as David/ 
To this, add general contentment and enjoyment, facili- 
ties of social and international intercourse, the general 
prevalence of the spirit of benevolence and brotherly 
love, and the absence of those maddening and satanic 
temptations, delusions and prejudices, that have so long 
deceived, enslaved and embroiled the nations; — all this 
cemented by the true spiritual worship^ protection and 
love of the Common' Father of all men. 

'^Is any thing wanting to complete the picture, and to 
ratify the assurance of a state of liberty, equality, com- 
mon brotherhood, common interests, common sympathy, 
and common participancy in social rights, immunities, 
privileges and arrangements? Must we need be told in 
addition to all this, that 'the thrones of despotism shall 
be cast down,' that the 'beast' of civil and ecclesiastical 
tyranny and usurpation, the persecutor 'of the holy apos- 
tles and people,' shall be given 'to the burning flames,' 
that the yoke of domination 'shall be dashed into pieces 
as a potter's vessel,' that 'subversion' shall tread upon 
the heels of subversion, and one despotism overturn an- 
other, till He, 'whose right it is, shall rule.' That the 
masses shall be elevated, the exclusives brought low, that 
the , lofty' shall be 'humbled,' and the 'haughty bowed 
down' — in such a period of general possession, genei^a I 
justice, equaliiy and contentment as has been already and 
previously described^" 



SLAVES AVITHOUT MASTEr.S. 133 

Now, Mr. Goodell deplores that the condition of 
his society is so bad, that it becomes necessary to 
upset and reverse it by a millennium. Is not this, 
considering his high position and authority, strong 
evidence to prove ''the failure of Free Society." 
We should add, that his whole book teems with evi- 
dence of his uncompromising hostility to existing 
Church institutions, and the existing Priesthood, 
as abuses and interpolations that have been en- 
grafted improperly on Christianity. He obviously 
belongs, in faith, to those early Christians, who re- 
sembled the Essenes in their social relations, and 
who daily expected the advent of the millennium. 
Their error in the last respect, shows that it is the 
Bible, and not their construction of it, that should 
be our rule of faith and guide of conduct. 

The next witness we call up, is Gerrit Smith, a 
man who has a national reputation as an orator, a 
philanthropist and a gentleman ; who writes better 
than he speaks, and whose active charity and be- 
nevolence are only exceeded in the greatness of 
their amount by the grossness of their misapplica- 
tion. He is a zealous Christian, yet edits, or did 
edit, the Progressive Christian, which proposed to 
abolish Christianity as now understood. He builds 
churches to keep out the clergy, and heads Chris- 
tian conventions to put down Christian institutions, 
and agrees with Wendell Phillips, that the pulpit of 



134 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

the Nortli stands in the way of reform — et delenda 
est Carthago — the pulpit should be destroyed ! 

Like Mr. Goodell, he seems to look to an ap- 
proaching millenium. But he is a man of restless 
activity and energy, and of incalculable daring, and 
would put his shoulder to the wheel, and inau- 
gurate the millenium at once. He assumes the re- 
sponsibility ; declares continually in speeches, lec- 
tures and essays, that land monopoly is an intoler- 
able evil ; that lands should be as common and as 
free for use to all, as air and water ; and proposes 
to divide them at once. He is one of the largest 
owners of real estate at the North, and yet the 
most uncompromising agrarian in the world. His 
disinterestedness is only exceeded by his rashness 
and destructiveness : 

"The mildest-iiiannei''d man, 
That ever cut a throat or scuttled ship." 

His amiableness of disposition and evenness of 
temper never desert him, because he has not to 
"screw his courage to the sticking-place." 'Tis 
always there. The " red right arm of Thundering 
Jove" could not shake his tenacity of purpose; and, 
in a case of conscience, he would let the world or 
the Union slide with equal equanimity: 

" Si fractus illabitur orbis, 
Impavidnra ferient ruinoe !" 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 135 

He gives a forty thousand or so to Kansas emi- 
grants from the North, because, as a gentleman, he 
feels it his duty to stick to his country, right or 
wrong ; and abolitionists are his country. His 
gross eccentricities and intellectual aberrations arc 
but the natural out-growth of the social system 
which surrounds him, and which reminds him and 
every other ingenuous and candid mind, 

"That whatever is, is xorong T'' 

He is only seemingly eccentric and erratic. He 
feels" the difficulty of disposing of his immense 
wealth, without making it an engine of oppression 
and exaction. He understands the theory of capi- 
tal and labor, as his speeches show; — knows that 
labor produces every thing, and that capital is the 
whip that forces it to w^ork, and also the exploitator 
that robs it of most of the proceeds of its industry. 
"La propriety c'est le vol!" he sees is true, save in 
the impurity of motive, which it seems to attribute 
to its owners. If he endows colleges, or gives his 
money in large sums to individuals, in the one case 
it is used to rear up exploitators, who rob labor by 
professional skill ; and in the other, to those who 
use it at once as an engine of exaction and oppres- 
sion. If he gives it in smaller sums to the poor, he 
is generally giving to the idle the labor of the in- 
dustrious, and offering a premium to continued idle- 



136 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

ness ; for he can neither control the conduct nor ex- 
penditure of his beneficiaries. He is too good, and 
too proud, to spend his income in pomp and luxury. 
Too good thus to waste the proceeds of labor, (as 
all public or private luxury does,) and thus increase 
the burdens of the working class. Too proud to 
derive reflected importance and standing from ex- 
traneous glitter and costly show and equipage. He 
has (no doubt, in vain,) attempted to ameliorate the 
condition of a great many slaves, by purchasing 
them and emancipating them. Could he retain 
them as slaves, he might see that his charity was 
not misapplied, by educating them and controlling 
their conduct. To us, it occurs that a large capital 
can only be safely invested in slaves and lands, if 
the owner wishes to be sure that it shall not be 
used as an engine of oppression, or as a persuasive 
to idleness and dissipation. 

We should do injustice to Mr. Smith were we not 
to add, that he is quite as busy in abducting ne- 
groes as in buying them. The underground rail- 
road is one of his favorite pets and beneficiaries. 
His restless energy is not satisfied with the slow 
proceedings of this road, and hence he buys ne- 
groes, as well as aids the abducting of them. He 
has been severely censured for buying them, by 
those whom he supplies with the means to steal 
them, or whom he rescues from the fangs of the 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 137 

law, when caught in abortive efforts to abduct 
them. 

He had the education and has the feelings and 
bearing of the Southerner. Hi? father owned slaves, 
and a territory full of Indians, and he was reared 
as playmate and prince in their midst; hence, he 
has the proud humility of the Southerner, not the 
exacting and supercilious arrogance of the North- 
erner. He does not demand deference and respect, 
because it has, from boyhood, been yielded to him, 
as his due, by admitted inferiors. 

The value of his testimony, establishing, if true, 
the utter and entire failure of free society, cannot 
be over estimated. He is learned, candid, honest, 
well-informed, and has always lived in free society. 
Its subversion, which he proposes, and actively at- 
tempts, would strip him of millions of wealth. He 
is the leading champion of slave abolition, and, by 
admitting the failure of free society, blunts and 
neutralizes all his arguments against slavery. In 
every way, then, pride of opinion, seeming consist- 
ency, and pecuniary interest, tempt him to extol, 
not to condemn free society. It is true, he thinks 
slavery also a failure, and a greater failure ; but he 
knows little practically about slave society, and 
cannot admit for us, although he may for himself 
and his section. — En passant, we would say to him, 
that air and water are the subjects of more exclu- 
sive appropriation in free society than land. — He is 



138 CANNIBALS ALL; OK, 

a lawyer, and knows that the ownership of the soil 
carries with it the ownership of every thing, ad 
inferos, et usque ad coelum. In fact, in cities 
where the poor most do congregate, their food and 
raiment differ not half so much from that of the 
rich, as their enjoyment of pure air and water. 
Men must get a place to breathe and drink from ; 
and all places are appropriated. 

Yes, Mr. Smith, you are vainly trying to grasp 
The Right ! The Right is connected with, affected 
by, and affects all the Past, all the Present, and all 
the Future. God knows the Right — man only the 
Expedient. 

Our next witness is Horace Greely, Editor of the 
Tribune, and Napoleon of the Press. His first dis- 
tinction was won by his espousing and elaborately 
propagating the Social Philosophy of Charles Casi- 
mir Fourier. This he did, some twenty years 
since, in a long controversy with the Courier & 
Enquirer : the latter paper sustaining the conserv- 
ative side. The correspondence was afterwards 
published in book form, and we regret that we have 
not been able to possess ourselves of a copy. The 
whole edition, we learn, was burnt at the Harpers. 
Consigned by Providence, not by a human Censor, 
to the flames. Should we misrepresent our witness, 
it will be because we have tried in vain to get this 
book. We think he was the first, in America, to 
assert, and maintain by arguments and proofs, the 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 139 

inadequacy and injustice of the whole social and 
governmental organization at the North. He, not 
ourselves, is the American author of the theory of 
the Failure of Free Society. His remedies, though 
not as radical and scientific as those of Proudhon 
and Mr. Andrews, did very well for a beginning. 
He, we think, proposed at once to coop mankind up 
in Phalansteries, where, in a few generations, all the 
distinctions of separate property, and of separate 
wives and children, would be obliterated and lost, 
and society would gradually and gently be fused 
and crystalized into a system of pure and perfect 
Communism. The Tribune has to minister to a 
variety of tastes, all agreeing in their destructive 
tendencies, but differing widely as to the manner in 
which they shall attain their conclusions ; hence, it 
is hard to deduce any well defined system of phi- 
losojohy from its columns. Mr. Andrews intimates, 
that our witness is no philosopher at all. Be it so. 
Yet all must admit that no mnn of the age has the 
organ or faculty of Destructiveness so fully devel- 
oped. The Tribune has been, from the time of the 
controversy of which we have spoken, to the pre- 
sent day, the great Organ of Socialism, of Free 
Love, and of all the other isms which propose to 
overthrow and rebuild society and government, or 
to dispense with them altogether. Steadily pursu- 
ing this destructive course, the Tribune has for 
years become the most popular paper in the North, 



140 CANNIBALS ALL; OE, 

and, 'tis said, lias more readers in Europe and 
America than any paper in the worhi ; and yet its . 
only peculiar thought, its whole intellectual, moral, 
social and political stock in trade, consists of the 
one idea, variously expressed, illustrated and en- 
forced, "The Failure of Free Society;" or, as 
Carlyle phrases it, " We must have a new world, if 
we are to have any world at all." 

What a striking illustration of our theory, that 
" a mere verbal formula often distinguishes a truism 
from a paradox." We assert a theory bluntly and 
plainly, and attempt to prove it by facts and argu- 
ments, and the world is ready to exclaim, " Oh, 
what shocking heresy." Mr. Greely, for twenty 
years, maintains the same theory, in different lan- 
guage, and elicits the admiration and gratitude of 
the world. Oh, Le Pauvre Peuple ! how long will 
it permit its flatterers to deceive and betray it ? 
Mr. Greely and ourselves agree in our destructive 
philosophy, but are wide asunder as the poles in 
what is constructive. Each proposes to protect the 
weak. He promises "protection without control or 
abridgment of liberty." We tell those who ask for 
or require protection and support, that " they must 
submit to be controlled, for that the price of secu- 
rity has ever been, and ever will be, the loss of 
liberty." 

The popularity of the Tribune shews that the 
world is prepared to upset existing social systems. 



SLAVES WITnOUT MASTERS. 141 

When that is clone, it will have to choose between 
Free Love and Slavery ; between more of govern- 
ment and no government. We think, like Carlyle, 
more of government is needed. We, too, are a 
Socialist, (for free society,) but we would screw up 
the strings of society, not further relax them, much 
less cut them *' sheer asunder ! " 

We wish to display the truth, and nothing but 
truth, to the public, on the subjects of Abolition 
and Socialism ; and, for fear of misrepresentation, 
have written letters to Mr. Greely and Mr. Garri- 
son, copies of which we shall append to this chap- 
ter. Should they be silent, the letters will at least 
show our solicitude to arrive at truth. 

We have written enough about Mr. Andrews, and 
quoted enough from his book already, to show that 
he is the great philosopher of his party, and the 
comprehensive and truthful expositor of its doc- 
trines, its tendencies, and ultimate results. His 
co-laborers, less scientific and far-sighted than he, 
might be ready to exclaim, on reading his book, 
'' Thinkest thou thy servant a dog, that he shall do 
this thing!" But Mr. Andrews is right. To this 
complexion must they come at last. A plunge into 
the soft and sensual waters of the lake of Free 
Love — then a sudden and violent exit into the keen 
and shivering atmosphere of despotism. 

We know less of Mr. Garrison than of either of 
the other gentlemen. He heads the extreme wing 



142 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

of the Socialist, Infidel, Woman's-Riglit, Agrarian 
and Abolition party, who are called Garrisonians. 
He edits the Liberator, which is conducted with an 
ability worthy of a better cause. He and his fol- 
lowers seem to admit that the Bible and the Con- 
stitution recognize and guarantee Slavery, and 
therefore denounce both, and propose disunion and 
no priests or churches, as measures to attain aboli- 
tion. Mr. Garrison usually presides at their meet- 
ings, and we infer, in part, their principles and 
doctrines, from the materials that compose those 
meetings. A Wise-Woman will rise and utter a 
philipic against Marriage, the Bible, and the Con- 
stitution, — and will be followed by negro Remond, 
who ''spits upon Washington," and complains of 
the invidious distinction of calling whites Anglo- 
Saxons, and negroes Africans. And now, Phillips 
arises, 

"Armed with liell-flaraes and fury," 

and gently begins, in tones more dulcet, and with 
action more graceful than Belial, to 

"Pour the sweet milk of concord into hell! 
Uproar the universal peace — 
Destroy all unity on earth." 

Then Mr. Parker will edify the meeting by stirring 
up to bloody deeds in Kansas or in Boston — in 
which, as becomes his cloth, he takes no part — and 
ends by denouncing things in general, and the 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 143 

cliurclies and parsons in particular. And, proba- 
bly, the Avhole Avill conclude with a general indul- 
gence and remission of sins, from Mr. Andrews, 
who assumes, for the nonce, the character of Fa- 
ther Confessor, and assures the tender conscience 
that it is right and incumbent to take the oath to 
sustain the Constitution, with the deliberate purpose 
of violating it, because such oaths are taken under 
moral duress. These Garrisonians are as intel- 
lectual men as any in the nation. They lead the 
Black Republican party, and control the politi- 
cians. Yet are they deadly enemies of Northern 
as vrell as of Southern institutions. 

Now, gentlemen, all of you are philosophers, and 
most zealous philanthropists, and have for years 
been roaring, at the top of your voice, to the Oi 
Polloi rats, that the old crazy edifice of society, in 
which they live, is no longer fit for human dwelling, 
and is imminently dangerous. The rats have taken 
you at your word, and are rushing headlong, with 
the haste and panic of a "sauve que peut," into 
every hole that promises shelter — into " any port 
in a storm." Some join the Rappists and Shakers, 
thousands find a temporary shelter in Mr. Greely's 
Fourierite Phalansteries ; many more follow Mr. 
Andrews to Trialville, to villages in the far West, 
or to Modern Times ; and a select few to the sa- 
loons of Free Love; and hundreds of thousands 



144 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

find shelter witli Brigham Young, in Utah ; whilst 
others, still more frightened, go to consult the Spir- 
itual Telegraph, that raps hourly at the doors of 
heaven and of hell, or quietly put on their ascen- 
sion robes to accompany Parson Miller in his up- 
ward flight. But the greater number are waiting 
(very impatiently) for Mr. Andrews to establish his 
New and Better World, or for Mr. Garrison and 
Mr. Goodell to inaugurate their Millenium. 

Why, Gentlemen ! none of these worse than Cas- 
sandra vaticinations — why none of this panic, ter- 
ror, confusion and flight, in Slave Society? Are 
we suffering, and yet contented ? Is our house 
tumbling about our heads, and we sitting in con- 
scious security amidst the impending ruin ? No ! 
No ! Our edifice is one that never did fall, and 
never will fall ; for Nature's plastic hand reared it, 
supports it, and will forever sustain it. 

Have we not shewn, in this single chapter, that 
the North has as much to apprehend from abolition 
as the South, and that it is time for conservatives 
every where to unite in efforts to suppress and ex- 
tinguish it? 

We add hereto a letter we addressed to the public 
as to " Our Trip to the North," and our reply to a 
Mr. Ilogeboom, a New York abolitionist. Also, 
our letters to Garrison and Greely. We do this to 
shew that we intend not to mislead, misrepresent or 



SLAVES. WITHOUT MASTERS. 145 

deceive. In truth, the leading Abolitionists are 
our pets and favorites. We have an inveterate and 
perverse penchant of finding out good qualities in 
bad fellows. Robespierre and Milton's Satan are 
our particular friends. 



MY TRIP TO THE NORTH. 

To the Editors of the Enquirer: 

Gentlemen, — I hesitated long before resolving to 
address you this letter. I feel that I shall be amenable 
to the charge of egotism ; but I have written a booh, in 
which I undertake to defend and justify Slavery, and to 
advise the South as to its future policy. In that I am 
egotistical, as every one is who writes a book. I have 
^^ stepped in so far, that returning were more tedious 
than go o'er." I will not do things by halves. When I 
wrote that book, I believed that Government, Law, Reli- 
gion, and Marriage, were victims bound and filleted for 
sacrifice by Northern abolition. What was then matter 
of doubtful opinion, inference and speculation, has be- 
come, since my trip to the North, subject of fixed faith 
and conviction. I enjoyed the warm and elegant hospi- 
tality of some of the Liberty party of the North. I was 
in social intercourse with many of them. I have re- 
ceived many pamphlets, books and speeches from them. 
I have no private confidences to betray, because I heard 
no secrets. This party is conscientious, believes itself 
right, and courts discussion and notoriety. I, besides, 
7 



146 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

conversed freely witli strangers, in public conveyances and 
at hotels. I think, with my previous study on the sub- 
ject of Slavery and Abolition, I may be able to make 
some useful suggestions to the South and the North. 

It seemed to me, that in attempting to prove " Free 
Society a failure,^' in my lecture at New Haven, I was 
"but carrying coals to New Castle/' The Liberty party, 
at least, discovered that long before I did, and are as 
intent on subverting and re-constructing society at home, 
as on abolishing slavery with us. A part of them, I will 
not undertake to say how large a portion, are infidels, 
who find the Bible no impediment to their schemes of 
social reform, because they assert that it is false. This 
wing of the Liberty party is in daily expectation of dis- 
covering a new Social Science, that will remedy all the 
ills that human flesh is heir to. They belong to the 
schools of Owen, Louis Blanc, Fourier, Comte, and the 
German and French Socialists and Communists. The 
other wing, and probably the most numerous wing of the 
party, is composed of the Millenial Christians — men 
who expect Christ, either in the flesh or in the spirit, 
soon to reign on earth ; the lion to lie down with the 
lamb ; every man to sit down under his own vine and fig 
tree; all to have an interest in lands; marrying and 
giving in marriage to cease; war to be abolished, and 
peace and good will to reign among men. They are as 
intent on abolishing all Church government and author- 
ity, as the infidels. They would, equally with them, 
trample on all law and government, because " liberty is/' 
say they, "an inalienable right," and law, religion, and 
government continue to protect slavery. Marriage, 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 147 

Christian marriage, wbicli requires the obedience of the 
wife, is slavery ; and tliey would modify it, or destroy 
it. Land monopoly, they say, gives to property or 
capital a greater power over labor than masters have 
over slaves ; hence, they very wisely and logically con- 
clude, that land, like air and water, should be common 
property. 

The Liberty party is composed of very able men — of 
philosophers and philanthropists. They have demon- 
strated, beyond a doubt, that slavery is necessary, unless 
they can get up a Millenium, or discover a new Social 
Science. The increasing crime and poverty of mankind, 
and the utter failure of all social experiments like those 
of Owen and others, indicate neither the advent of the 
one, nor the discovery of the other. 

This Liberty party are the best allies of the South, 
because they admit, and continually expose, the utter 
failure of Free Society. 

One of the most distinguished of this party thus writes 
to Wendell Phillips, Esq. : 

^' I cannot refrain from expressing, in this connection, 
my grief that many abolitionists have allowed their faith 
in the Bible to be shaken.^' 

In my short trip to the North, I was struck with noth- 
ing so much as the avowed infidelity of many, and the 
Christianity melting into infidelty, of the great mass 
of the balance with whom I conversed. I have no doubt, 
however, that although such a state of things is too com- 
mon at the North, yet my peculiar associations made the 
evil appear greater than it really is. The religious and 
conservative, like the lily of the valley, are silent and 



148 CANNIBALS ALL; OE, 

secluded. As a specimen of this religion melting, as I 
think, into infidelity, I will give another extract from the 
letter to Wendell Phillips : 

'^You have been much censured for holding that the 
anti-slavery cause can reach success only over the ruins 
of the American government and the American church. 
Nevertheless, you are right. The religion ■which tole- 
rates — nay, sanctifies — slavery, must necessarily be con- 
quered ere the devotees and dupes of that religion will 
suffer slavery to be abolished. Again, so long as the 
actual government is on the side of slavery^ the bloodless 
abolition of slavery is impracticable.'^ 

The author of the letter from which I quote, and Mr. 
Phillips to whom it is addressed, are gentlemen, scholars 
and christians. They are, besides, historical characters. 
"VVe violate no privacy in holding up their opinions to 
public view and general criticism. Is their's not Chris- 
tianity melting into infidelity? I have lately received a 
book, in two volumes, entitled ''The Democracy of Chris- 
tianity," from its author — William Goodell of New York, 
a member of the Liberty Party. The author evinces 
much ability, ingenuity and research. He is one of the 
millenial Christians — obviously pious and sincere. He 
sees no exodus from the appalling evils of Free Society, 
except that state of perfect equality, peace, happiness 
and security, that he, like the men of Cromwell's day, 
thinks is promised and predicted in the Bible. I cite 
the following passage from the conclusion of his work : 

"Glance over again the items included in these predic- 
tions : — The general and permanent prevalence of peace 
— the result of justice, equity, security, and the actual 
possession, by each and every one, of 'his vine and fig 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 149 

tree/ i. e. of soil sufficient to produce the needful fruits 
of the earth, or in some way, a sup^jly of his physical 
wants." 

If this state of things ever occur, God will bring it 
about without the help of abolitionists. 

We do not deem it necessary to quote from the infidel 
agrarians and abolitionists, because their splendid pro- 
mises and bloody and disastrous failures, have been mat- 
ters of every day's history and of every day's occurrence, 
from the times of Marat and the guillotine to those of 
Lamar tine and Cavaignac. 

The Proletariat of France, the nomadic pauper ban- 
ditti of England, the starving tenantry of Ireland, the 
Lazzaroni of Italy, and the half-savages of Hayti, are 
the admitted results of practical abolition. But, say the 
Liberty party, abolition has stopped half-way; abolish 
churches, law, government, marriage, and separate prop- 
erty in lands, and then the scheme will work charmingly. 

Well, possibly it will ; but as we are very happy, com- 
fortable and contented in slave society, suppose you try 
the "experimentum in vile corpus." Begin at home, 
and if the experiment works well, we of the South will 
follow your example. You have a little Eden now near 
Lake Oneida. Some hundreds of Oneida perfectionists, 
living in primitive simplicity, among whom there is no 
^^marrying or giving in marriage," no separate property, 
all things enjoyed in common; and we suppose, neither 
priest nor officer to disturb or mar the harmony of mil- 
lenial society. '^We but tell th& tale as 'twas told to 
us." Does it work well? If so, why not form all your 
institutions on that model ? 



160 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

You of the Liberty party seem to think that "pas- 
sional attraction" and '^attractive labor '^ will keep all 
men np to their duties, and dispense with the necessity 
of Church and State, Law and Religion, Priest and Offi- 
cer. You think you follow nature, but in truth you are 
superficial observers of nature. Man, it is true, is a 
social and gregarious animal, but like all animals of that 
kind, he is, by nature, law-making and law-abiding. The 
ants and bees are ruled by despotic and exacting govern- 
ments, and by laws and regulations, wise and less 
changeable than those of the Medes and Persians. But 
man is not only a law-making animal, but a religious one 
also. In remitting him to a state of anarchy and infi- 
delity, you would not remit him to a state of nature, but 
one of continuous, exterminating warfare, such as France 
witnessed during the reign of terror. 

I find, Messrs. Editors, that I am somewhat wander- 
ing from the subject with which I commenced, and will 
conclude — for the present, at least. 

Very respectfully, your ob't serv't. 



LETTER TO MR. HOGEBOOM. 

Port Royal, Ya., Jan. 14th, 1856. 

To A. HoGEBOOM, Esq., Sheds Corners, Madison county, N. Y. 

Dear Sir : — Your letter reached this office during my 
absence from home. I embrace the earliest opportunity 
of replying to it, because I rejoice that public attention 
at the North may, by this means, be excited to the sub- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 151 

ject of my book. I am sure I should not Lave been 
honored with your correspondence had you read the 
book and known its subject. That subject is the "Fail- 
ure of Free Society.'' You have only read extracts 
from it, you say, in the Northern papers. Those papers 
will be slow to notice the facts, authorities and admis- 
sions which it cites, to prove the failure of their form of 
society. I send you the book and refer you particularly 
to the preface, to the second and third chapters, and to 
the ^^ summing up" in the concluding chapter. 

If this does not satisfy you that free society is a cruel 
fiiilure, read the history of the English Poor laws, and 
you will find that the laboring class of England have, 
every day since the emancipation of the villeins, been in 
a worse condition, morally and physically, than any slaves 
ever were. Read, also, two articles, the one in the North 
British Review, and the other in Blackwood for De- 
cember, depicting the demoralized and starving condition 
of the whole laboring class of Great Britain. Read, 
also, Carlyle's Latter Day- Pamphlets. If this does not 
convince you that the Little Experiment, (for it is a 
very little one, both in time and space,) is a disastrous 
and cruel failure, look at home ! How comes it that 
your distinguished neighbor, Gerrit Smith, proposes to 
make land as free for the enjoyment of all as air and 
water? Confessedly, because the despotism of capital 
over labor is intolerahle. Confessedly, because your 
form of society is found to be a failure in practice ! 
Why does another distinguished abolitionist, Mr. Good- 
ell, of New York, in his book, on the Democracy of 
Christianity, declare, that wealth now is more cruel, op- 



152 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

pressive and murderous, than Feudal masters? Why 
does Mr. Greely advocate the doctrines of Fourier, and 
propose to.subvert your society and reconstruct it from 
top to bottom, making a sort of common property of wo- 
men and children, as well as of lands and houses? Why 
does, much your ablest philosopher, Stephen Pearle An- 
drewS; propose j^lans of reform still more sweeping ? 
And, why are his doctrines popular with the ''higher 
classes " in New York ? Why, in fine, are the larger 
number of the abolitionists, millenial Christians, in 
daily expectation of the advent of Christ, who is to di- 
vide all property equally, and give to each one his " vine 
and fig tree." And why are the others. Atheists, like 
Owen and Fourier, attempting to invent new and better 
forms of society ? 

Why have you Bloomer's and Women's Right's men, 
and strong-minded women, and Mormons, and anti- 
renters, and ''vote myself a farm" men, Millerites, and 
Spiritual Rappers, and Shakers, and W^idow Wakeman- 
ites, and Agrarians, and Grahamites, and a thousand 
other superstitious and infidel isms at the North ? Why 
is there faith in nothing, speculation about everything ? 
Why is this unsettled, half demented state of the hu- 
man mind co-extensive in time and space, with free so- 
ciety ? Why is Western Europe now starving ? and 
why has it been fighting and starving for seventy years ? 
Why all this, except that free society is a failure ? Slave 
society needs no defence till some other permanently 
practicable form of society has been discovered. None 
such has been discovered. Nobody at the North who 
reads my book will attempt to reply to it ; for all the 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 153 

learned abolitionists had unconsciously discovered and 
proclaimed the failure of free society long before I did. 

I am indebted for the honor of your correspondence, 
to your ignorance of what my book contains. I reply 
through the Press, because I intend to use your letter 
merely as an occasion to challenge the North, to dispute 
or deny my assertion that '' free society is a failure I" 

In conclusion, I propose to you, and through you to 
the whole North, these questions. 

Do not the past history and present condition of Free 
Society in Western Europe (where alone the experiment 
has been fully tried,) prove that it is attended with 
greater evils, moral and physical, than Slave Society ? 

Do not the late writers on society in Western Europe, 
and in our free States, generally admit that those evils are 
intolerable, and that Free Society requires total subver- 
sion and re-organization ? 

Should you not, therefore, abolish your form of society, 
and adopt ours, until Mr. Greely, or Brigham Young, or 
Mr. Andrews, or Mr. Goodell, or some other socialist of 
Europe or America, invents and puts into successful 
practice, a social organization better than either, or until 
the millenium does actually arrive ? 

With the assurance that I am quite as intent on abol- 
ishing Free Society, as you are on abolishing slavery, and 
with the confidence that all of divine authority, and al- 
most all of human authority, is on my side, I remain, 
your co-philanthropist, and 

Obedient servant, 

Geo. Fitzhugh. 



154 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

LETTER TO MR. GARRISON. 

Port Royal, Va., July 18, 1856. 

Dear Sir — I am about to publish a work, entitled 
"Cannibals All; or. Slaves Without Masters." I shall, 
in effect, say, in the course of my argument, that every 
theoretical abolitionist at the North is a Socialist or Com- 
munist, and proposes or approves radical changes in the 
organization of society. I shall cite Mr. Greely, Mr. 
Goodell, S. P. Andrews, Gerrit Smith, yourself, and 
other distinguished and leading abolitionists, of both 
sexes, as proof of my assertion. I shall also endeavor to 
show that all the literary mind of Western Europe con- 
curs with you. You, I perceive, have read a work al- 
ready written by me, and will not mistake my object. 
We live in a dangerous crisis, and every patriot and plii- 
lanthropist should set aside all false delicacy in the earnest 
pursuit of truth. I believe Slavery natural, necessary, 
indispensable. You think it inexpedient, immoral and 
criminal. Neither of us should withhold any facts that 
will enable the public to form correct opinions. Should 
you not reply to this letter, I shall publish a copy of it 
in my book, and insist that your silence is an admission 
of the truth of my charges. I regret that your very 
able paper reaches me irregularly. 

Your obedient servant, 

Geo. Fitzhugh. 

LoYD GArtEisoN, Esq., Boston, Mass, 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 155 



LETTER TO MR. GREELY. 

Port Royal, Va., July 20, 1856. 

Dear Sir — I am writing a work, entitled, " Cannibals 
All; or, Slaves Without Masters." I shall state, as a 
matter of fact, that all theoretical abolitionists assert the 
failure of free society, and each proposes some plan for 
its re-organization. I shall cite particularly yourself, 
Gerrit Smith, S. P. Andrews, Mr. Goodell and Mr. Gar- 
rison. I shall rely on your discussion with the Courier 
and Enquirer, which has been burnt, chiefly as my proof 
of your opinion. 

I wish to afford you, and other distinguished gentle- 
men, an opportunity of correcting me if I have come to 
erroneous conclusions. I have, therefore, written to Mr. 
Garrison, and I now write to you, to afford you an op- 
portunity to correct me if I am wrong. I know you all 
think our society a greater failure than your own ; but 
you can admit for yourselves, not for us. I shall pub- 
lish a copy of this letter in my book, if you do not reply, 
(and possibly if you reply,) both this letter and your 
answer. 

^Tis not possible that our two forms of society can long 
co-exist. All Christendom is one republic, has one re- 
ligion, belongs to one race, and is governed by one public 
opinion. Social systems, formed on opposite principles, 
cannot co-endure. 

With much respect, 

Your obedient servant, 

Geo. Fitzhugh. 



156 CANNIBALS ALL; OB, 

Before parting with our '' Masters in the Art of 
War," we must abate a little of the honors we have 
lavished on them. We have said that thej dis- 
covered and proclaimed the failure of Free Society 
before we did. So they did ; but they mistook it 
for the failure of all society. Their little world of 
Western Europe and Yankeedom was, in their eyes, 
the whole world. Hence, exclaims Mr. Carlyle, 
''We must have a new world, if we are to have any 
world at all." And Andrews takes up the cry, all 
the North joins in chorus, and sends the sad knell 
echoing back to Europe. Not so fast, gentlemen. 
Your world is not one-tenth of the whole world, 
and all is peace, quiet, and prosperity outside of it. 
We of the South, and all slave countries, want no 
new world. 

Now we were the first to discover and proclaim 
that Free Society alone had failed ; and failed be- 
cause it was free. We occupied vantage ground, a 
good stand^point, saw both forms of society, and 
thus discovered what our masters had overlooked. 
Every body sees it now, and gives us no more credit 
for the discovery, than his cotemporaries gave Co- 
lumbus — " At mihi plaudo !" 

Italiam ! primus conclainat Achates ; 
Italiam, coeto socii clamore salutant. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 157 



CHAPTER XI. 

DECAY OF ENGLISH LIBEKTY, AND GROWTH OF 
ENGLISH POOR LAWS. 

Blackstone, whose Commentaries have been, for 
half a century, a common school-book, and whose 
opinions on the rise, growth and full development 
of British liberty, are generally received as true, as 
well in America as in Europe, maintains a theory 
the very opposite of that for which we are about to 
contend. 

He holds that the appearance of the House of 
Commons, about the reign of Henry the Third, was 
the dawn of approaching liberty. We contend that 
it was the origin of the capitalist and moneyed in- 
terest government, destined finally to swallow up 
all other powers in the State, and to bring about 
the most selfish, exacting and unfeeling class, des- 
potism. He thinks the emancipation of the serfs 
was another advance towards equality of rights and 
conditions. We think it aggravated inequality of 
conditions, and divested the liberated class of every 
valuable, social and political right. A short his- 
tory of the English Poor Laws, which we shall an- 
nex, will enable the reader to decide between us on 



158 CANNIBALS ALL ; OR, 

this head. He thinks the Reformation increased 
the liberties of the subject. We think that, in de- 
stroying the noblest charity fund in the world, the 
church lands, and abolishing a priesthood, the effi- 
cient and zealous friends of the pooK, the Refor- 
mation tended to diminish the liberty of the mass 
of the people, and to impair their moral, social and 
physical well-being. He thinks that the Revolu- 
tion, by increasing the power of the House of Com- 
mons, and lessening the prerogative of the Crown, 
and the influence of the Church, promoted liberty. 
We think the Crown and the Church the natural 
friends, allies and guardians of the laboring class; 
the House of Commons, a moneyed firm, their 
natural enemies ; and that the Revolution w^as a 
marked epoch in the steady decay of British 
liberty. 

He thinks that the settlement of 1688 that suc- 
cessfully asserted in theory the supreme sovereignty 
of Parliament, but particularly the supreme sove- 
reignty of the House of Commons, w^as the con- 
summation or perfection of British liberty. We 
are sure, that that settlement, and the chartering 
of the Bank of England, which soon succeeded it, 
united the landed and moneyed interests, placed all 
the powers of government in their hands, and de- 
prived the great laboring class of every valuable 
right and liberty. The nobility, the church, the 
king, w^ere now powerless ; and the mass of the 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 150 

people, wholly unrepresented in the government, 
found themselves exposed to the grinding and piti- 
less despotism of their natural and hereditary ene- 
mies. Mr. Charles Dickens, who pities the condi- 
tion of the negro slaves, thus sums up, in a late 
speech, the worse condition of the " Slaves without 
Masters," in Great Britain: "Beneath all this, is 
a heaving mass of poverty, ignorance and crime." 
Such is English liberty for the masses. Thirty 
thousand men own the lands of England, three 
thousand those of Scotland, and fewer still those of 
Ireland. The great mass of the people are cut off 
from the soil, have no certain means of subsistence, 
and are trespassers upon the earth, without a sin- 
gle valuable or available right. Contrast their sit- 
uations with that of the old villeins, and see then 
w^hether our theory of British liberty and the Brit- 
ish constitution be true, or that of Blackstone. 

All writers agree there were no beggars or pau- 
pers in England until the liberation of the serfs ; 
and moreover admit that slaves, in all ages and in 
all countries, have had all their physical wants suf- 
ficiently supplied. They also concur in stating, 
that crime was multiplied by turning loose on 
society a class of men who had been accustomed to 
and still needed the control of masters. 

Until the liberation of the villeins, every man 
in England had his appropriate situation and du- 
ties, and a mutual and adequate interest in the 



160 CANNIBALS ALL ; OR, 

soil. Practically the lands of England were the 
common property of the people of England. The 
old Barons were not the representatives of particu- 
lar classes in Parliament, but the friends, and faith- 
ful and able representatives of all classes ; for the 
interests of all classes were identified. Monteil, a 
recent French author, who has written the most ac- 
curate and graphic description of social conditions 
during the Feudal ages, describes the serfs as the 
especial pets and favorites of the Barons. They 
were the most dependent, obedient, and useful 
members of the feudal society, and like younger chil- 
dren, became favorites. The same class now consti- 
tute the Proletariat, the Lazzaroni, the Gypsies, the 
Parias, and the "pauper banditti" of Western Eu- 
rope, and the Leperos of Mexico. As slaves, they 
were loved and protected; as pretended freemen, 
they were execrated and persecuted. 

Mr. Lester, a New York abolitionist, after a long 
and careful observation and study of the present 
condition of the English laboring class, solemnly 
avers, in his "Glory and Shame of England," that 
he would sooner subject his child to Southern 
slavery, than have him to be a free laborer of 
England. 

But it is the early history of the English Poor 
Laws, that proves most conclusively that the libe- 
ration of the villeins was a sham and a pretence, 
and that their situation has been worse, their rights 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 161 

fewer, and their liberties less, since emancipation 
than before. The Poor Laws, from the time of Ed- 
ward tlie Third to that of Elizabeth, were laws to 
punish the poor, and to keep them at work for low 
wages. Not till late in the reign of Elizabeth, was 
any charitable provision made for them. Then, 
most of them would have starved, as the confisca- 
tion and sales of the church lands had deprived 
them of their only refuge, but for the new system 
of charity. The rich must have labor, and could 
not afford to let them all starve, although they 
were ready to attempt the most stringent means to 
prevent their increase. 

In the Edinburgh Review, October, 1841, on 
Poor Law Reform, w^e find the following admirable 
history and synopsis of the English Poor Laws : 

The great experiment of Poor Law amendment, which 
has now for seven years been in progress among our 
southern neighbors, appears to us to have been insuffi- 
ciently attended to, and therefore to have been imper- 
fectly understood in this part of the island. We do not 
believe that many of our Scottish readers are fully aware 
of the origin of the English Poor Laws, of the changes 
which they underwent, of the abuses which they created, 
of the remedy which has been applied ; or of the obsta- 
cles which have diminished the success of that great 
measure, and now threaten its efficiency. And yet these 
are subjects of the deepest interest, even to those who 
study legislation merely as a science. A series of laws 



162 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

are exhibited/ persevered in for centuries, by a nation 
alwa3's eminent for practical wisdom, of which the result 
has almost invariably been failure, or worse than failure ] 
which in scarcely a single instance have attained their 
objects, and in most cases have produced effects precisely 
opposite to the intentions of their framers; — have aggra- 
vated whatever they were intended to dimiDish, and pro- 
duced whatever they were intended to prevent. From 
us, as Scotchmen, they merit peculiar attention, not only 
from the resemblance of our poor laws to the earlier 
English statutes ) but from the probability that, as the 
connection between the two countries becomes more inti- 
mate, we shall at no distant period follow the example, 
whatever it may be, of the larger country to which we 
are united ] and participate in the evils and advantages 
of the system which she may finally adopt. This fate 
already threatens Ireland. It is scarcely probable that 
Scotland can avoid it. 

Each of the subjects to which we have alluded, would 
require a volume for its complete development; but we 
are constrained to give to them such consideration as is 
admissible within the limits of an article of moderate 
length. 

The Committee of the House of Commons which con- 
sidered the Poor Laws in 1817, commence their able 
Report by stating, that ''the principle of a compulsory 
provision for the impotent, and for setting to work the 
able-bodied, originated, without doubt, in motives of the 
purest humanity.'' From this statement, plausible as it 
is, we utterly dissent. We believe that the English poor 
laws originated in selfishness, ignorance, and pride. Bet- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 163 

ter motives, without doubt, tliough misdirected by almost 
equal iguorance, dictated the changes wbicb were made 
in those laws during the 18th century — the fourth which 
elapsed from their commencement ; but we are convinced 
that their origin was an attempt substantially to restore 
the expiring system of slavery. The evils of slavery are 
now understood ; it is admitted that it destroys all the 
nobler virtues, both moral and intellectual ; that it leaves 
the slave without energy, without truth, without honesty, 
without industry, without providence: in short, without 
any of the qualities which fit men to be respected or 
even esteemed. But mischievous as slavery is, it has 
many plausible advantages, and freedom many apparent 
dangers. The subsistence of a slave is safe; he cannot 
suffer from insufficient wages, or from want of employ- 
ment ; he has not to save for sickness or old age ; he has 
not to provide for his family; he cannot waste in drunk- 
enness the wages by which they were to be supported ; 
his idleness or dishonesty cannot reduce them to misery; 
they suffer neither from his faults nor his follies. "We 
believe that there are few of our Highland parishes in 
which there is not more suffering from poverty than 
would be found in an equal Russian population. Again, 
the master thinks that he gains by being able to propor- 
tion the slave's subsistence to his wants. In a state of 
freedom, average wages are always enough to support, 
with more or less comfort, but still to support, an average 
family. The unmarried slave receives merely his own 
maintenance. A freeman makes a bargain; he asks 
wjiatever his master can afford to pay. The competition 



164 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

among employers forces them to submit to these terms ; 
and the highly paid workman often wastes his extra 
wages in idleness and debauchery. And when employ- 
ment is abundant; that is, when his services are most 
wanted, he often tries to better himself by quitting his 
master. All this is disagreeable to masters who have 
been accustomed to the apparent economy of servile la- 
bor, and to its lethargic obedience. 

The great motive of the framers of the earlier English 
poor laws was to remedy the latter class of inconveniences ; 
those which affect, or appear to affect the master. The 
motive of the framers of the later acts again, beginning 
with George I., was to remedy the first class of evils : 
those which affect the free laborer and his family. 

The first set of laws were barbarous and unskillful, and 
their failure is evident from their constant re-enactment 
or amendment, with different provisions and severer pen- 
alties. The second set had a different fate — ^they ulti- 
mately succeeded, in many districts, in giving to the 
laborer and to his family the security of servitude. They 
succeeded in relieving him and thoi^e who, in a state of 
real freedom, would have been dependent on him, from 
many of the penalties imposed by nature on idleness, 
improvidence, and misconduct. And by doing this, they 
in a great measure effected, though certainly against the 
intentions of the legislature, the object which had been 
vainly attempted by the earlier laws. They confined the 
laborer to his parish; they dictated to him who should 
be his master; and they proportioned his wages, not to 
his services, but to his wants. Before the poor law 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 165 

amendment act, nothing but the power of arbitrary pun- 
ishment was wanting in the pauperized parishes to a com- 
plete system of prsedial shivery. 

Our limits will not allow us to do more than to state 
very briefly the materfal parts of the numerous statutes, 
beginning by the statute of laborers, 23d Edward III., 
(1349,) and ending by the 39th Eliz. cap. 4, (1597,) 
which were passed for the supposed benefit of masters. 

The 23d Ed. III. requires all servants to accept the 
wages which were usually given five or six years before, 
and to serve by the year, not by the day ; it fixes a posi- 
tive rate of wages in many employments; forbids persons 
to quit the places in which they had dwelt in the winter^ 
aud search employment elsewhere in the summer; or to 
remove, in order to evade the act, from one county to 
another. A few years after, in 1360, the 34th Ed. III. 
confirmed the previous statute, and added to the penalties, 
which it imposed on laborers or artificers absenting them- 
selves from their services, that they should be branded 
on the forehead with the letter F. It imposed also a 
fine of £10 on the mayor and bailiff's of a town which 
did not deliver up a laborer or artificer who had left his 
service. 

Twenty-eight years after, in 1388, was passed the 12th 
Rich. II., which has generally been considered as the 
origin of the English poor laws. By that act the acts of 
Ed. III. are confirmed — laborers are prohibited, on pain 
of imprisonment, from quitting their residences in search 
of work, unless provided with testimonials stating tlie 
cause of their absence, aud the time of their returning, 
to be issued by justices of the peace at their discretion. 



166 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

And, ^^ because laborers will not^ nor, for a long season, 
would not, serve without extrageous and excessive liire,^^ 
prices are fixed for their labor; and punishments awarded- 
ao-ainst the laborer who receives more, and the master 
who gives more. Persons who hd;ve been employed in 
husbandry until twelve years of age, are prohibited from 
becoming artisans. Able-bodied beggars are to be treated 
as laborers wandering without passports. Impotent beg- 
gars are to remain where they are at the time of the 
proclamation of the act; or, if those places are unwilling 
or unable to support them, they are, within forty days, 
to repair to the places where they were born, and there 
dwell during their lives. 

We have said that this act has been treated as the 
origin of the English poor laws. It has been so consid- 
ered in consequence of the last clause, which is the first 
enactment recognizing the existence of the impotent 
poor. But this enactment makes no provision for them ; 
though, by requiring them to be stationary in a given 
spot for the rest of their lives, it seems to assume that 
they would be supported there. It gives them, however, 
no claim, nor is there a clause in the whole act intended 
to benefit any persons except the employers of labor, and 
principally of agricultural labor — that is to say, the land- 
owners who made the law. If the provisions of the act 
could have been enforced, the agricultural laborers, and 
they formed probably four-fifths of the population of 
England, though nominally free, would have been as 
efi'ectually ascripti gUhse as any Polish serf. And, to 
make a nearer approximation to slavery, in the next year 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 167 

(1389), the IStli Eich. II. was passed; wliich directs the 
justices of every county to make proclamation every lialf 
year, at their discretion, accordini^ to the price of food, 
what wages every artificer and hxborer shall receive by 
the day. This act, with some intervals, during which 
the legislature attempted itself to fix the prices of labor, 
remained substantially in force until the present century. 
A further attempt to reduce husbandry laborers to a he- 
reditary caste of serfs, was made by the 7th Hen. IV. 
cap. 17, (1405,) which, after reciting that the provisions 
of the former acts were evaded by persons apprenticing 
their children to crafts in towns — so that there is such a 
scarcity of husbandry laborers that gentlemen are impov- 
erished — forbids persons not having 20s. a-year in land 
to do so, under penalty of a year's imprisonment. 

It appears, however, that the laborers did not readily 
submit to the villenage to which the law strove to reduce 
them ] for from this time the English statute book is de- 
formed by the enactments against able-bodied persons 
leaving their homes, or refusing to work at the wages 
offered to them, or loitering, (that is to say, professing to 
be out of work,) which, to use the words of Dr. Burn, 
'^make this part of English history look like the history 
of the savages in America. Almost all the severities 
have been infligfed, except scalping."* A new class of 
criminals, designated by the terms " sturdy rogues " and 
^^ vagabonds,'' was created. Among these were included 
idle and suspect persons, living suspiciously."}" Persons 

* History of the Poor Laws, p. 120. f 11 Hen. VII. cap. 2. 



168 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

having no land or craft whereby they get their living.* 
Idle persons calling themselves serving-men, having no 
masters. Persons who, after having been sent home, 
absent themselves from such labor as they shall be ap- 
pointed to.f Able-bodied poor persons who do not apply 
themselves to some honest labor or other; or serve even 
for meat and drink, if nothing more is to be obtained. J; 
Persons able to labor, not having land or master, nor 
nsing any lawful employment. Laborers using loitering, 
and refusino; to work for reasonable wa^es.^ 

The first attempt on the part of a person dependent on 
his labor for his support to assert free agency, by chang- 
ing his abode, or by making a bargain for his services, or 
even by refusing to work for " bare meat and drink,'^ 
rendered him liable to be whipped and sent back to his 
place of birth, or last residence, for three years ; or, ac- 
cording to some statutes, for one year, there to be at the 
disposal of the local authoriti-es. The second attempt 
subjected him, at one time, to slavery for life, 'Ho be fed 
on bread and water and refuse meat, and caused to work 
by beating, chaining, or otherwise;^' and for the third, 
he was to suffer death as a felon. 

We have seen that the 12 th Kich. II. required the 
impotent poor to remain for life where they were found 
at the proclamation of the act, or at t^e places of their 
birth. The subsequent statutes require them to proceed 



* 22 Hen. VIII. cap. 12. f 27 Hen. VIII. cap. 25. 

X 1 Ed. VI. cap. 3. 

§ 3 and 4 Ed. VI. cap. 16. 14 Eliz. cap. 5. 39 Eliz. cap. 4. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 169 

either to their places of birth, or last places of residence, 
for three years. The law assumed, as wc have already 
remarked, that they would be supported there by volun- 
tary alms; and as respects the able-bodied, it assumed 
that an able-bodied slave, for such the laborer given 
up to the local authorities wa.^', could always be made 
worth his maintenance; that maintenance being, of 
course, the lowest that could keep him in working 
order. It appears, however, that casual alms were found 
an insufficient, or an inconvenient provi.^ion for the im- 
potent; that the local authorities were not sufficiently 
severe taskmasters of the able-bodied ; and that the keep- 
ing them at work required some fund, by way of capital. 
The 27th Plen. YIII. cap. 25, (1.j36,) therefore, requires 
the parishes to which the able-bodied should be sant, "to 
keep them to continual labor in such wise that they may 
get their own living by the continual labor of their own 
hands;'' on pain that every parish making default shall 
forfeit twenty shillings a-month. It directs the church- 
wardens, and two others of every parish, to collect alms 
and broken meat, to be employed in supporting the im- 
potent poor, and ''setting and keeping to work the sturdy 
vagabonds;" and forbids other almsgiving, on pain of 
forfeiting ten times the amount. This is the first attempt 
at making charity legal and systematic ; and it was obvi- 
ously a part of the scheme for confining the laboring 
population to their own parishes. It seems to have been 
supposed that voluntary alms, systematically distributed, 
would provide wholly for the impotent, and form a fund 
which, aided by the fruits of their forced labor, would 



8 



170 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

support the ''sturdy vagabonds;'' and, therefore, that no 
one could have an excuse for chanpng his residence. 

In the early part of Elizabeth's reign was passed a 
statute, 5th Eliz. cap. 3, (1562,) inflicting the usual pen- 
alties, whipping, slavery, and death, on sturdy vagabonds; 
that is to say, on those who, having no property but their 
labor, presumed to act as if they had a right to dispose 
of it; and containing the usual provisions for confining 
the impotent poor to their parishes. In one respect, 
however, it was a great step in advance ; for it contains 
for the first time a provision enabling the justices to tax, 
at their discretion, those who refused to contribute to the 
relief of the impotent and the keeping at work the able- 
bodied. Concurrently with this statute, and indeed as a 
part of it, for it is the next chapter on the roll of parlia- 
ment, was passed the 5th Eliz. cap. 4. This statute 
requires all persons brought up to certain specified trades, 
at that time the principal trades of the country, and not 
possessed of property, or employed in husbandry, or in 
a gentleman's service, to continue to serve in such trades; 
and orders that all other persons, between twelve years 
old and sixty, not being gentlemen, or students in a 
school or university, or entitled to property, and not en- 
gaged in maritime or mining operations, be compelled to 
serve in husbandry with any person that will require 
such person to serve, within the same county. Females, 
in corporate towns, between the ages of twelve and forty, 
and unmarried, are to be disposed of in service by the 
corporate authorities, at such wages, and in such sort and 
manner, as the authorities think meet. The hours of 
work are fixed by the statute; and the justices are, twice 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 171 

a-year, after ^^ conferring together respecting the plenty 
or scarcity of the time/^ to fix the wages. Persons di- 
rectly or indirectly paying more, are to be punished by 
imprisonment and fine ; persons receiving more, by im- 
prisonment. No person is to depart from one parish to 
another, or from one hundred or county to serve in an- 
other hundred or county, without a license from the local 
authorities. 

When we recollect that disobedience to these enact- 
ments exposed a man or a woman to be included in the 
proscribed class of vagabonds, punishable by whipping, 
branding, slavery, and death, it must be admitted that, 
whatever might be the practice, the law gave little free- 
dom to the laboring classes. 

The 14th Eliz. cap. 5, (1572,) carried on the same 
legislation against the able-bodied, merely aggravating 
the penalty, by subjecting the offenders (that is, all per- 
sons who would not work for what the justices should 
think reasonable wages) to whipping and burning for the 
first offence, and to the penalties of felony for the second. 
It made a further approach to the present system, by 
directing the fund ^'for setting to work the rogues and 
vagabonds,'' and relieving the impotent, to be raised by 
a general assessment. 

Twenty-five years afterwards, the two acts of the 39 th 
Eliz. cap. 3 and 4, were passed, which for the first time 
divided into separate statutes the punishment of the able- 
bodied, and the relief of the impotent. By the second 
of these acts, vagabonds (including, we repeat, persons 
able to labor, having no lord or master, not using any 
lawful employments, and laborers refusing to work for 
common wages) are to bo whipped, but not branded, 



172 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

and sent back to their parishes : if thej appear to be 
such as will not be reformed, they are to be transported, 
or adjudged perpetually to the galleys. 

The other act, the 39th Eliz. cap. 3, differs so slightly 
from the 43d Eliz. cap. 2, that it requires no further 
attention. 

The 43d of Eliz. directs, that the churchwardens and 
two or more householders, to be appointed by the jus- 
tices, shall take order, with the consent of the justices, 
for setting to work children, and all persons having no 
means to maintain themselves, and using no ordinary or 
daily trade of life to get their living by; and to raise a 
fund by taxation of the inhabitants for such setting to 
work, and for the necessary relief of the lame, impotent, 
old, and blind poor not able to work. And the justices 
are directed to send to the House of Correction, or com- 
mon jail, ''such as shall not employ themselves to work, 
being appointed thereunto as aforesaid.'' 

It appears from this statement, that the 43d of Eliza- 
beth deserves neither the praise nor the blame which 
Jiave been lavished on it. So far from having been 
prompted by benevolence, it was a necessary link in one 
of the heaviest chains in which a people calling itself 
free has been bound. It was part of a scheme prose- 
cuted for centuries, in defiance of reason, justice, and 
humanity, to reduce the laboring classes to serfs, to im- 
prison them in their parishes, and to dictate to them their 
employments and their wages. Of course, persons con- 
fined to certain districts by penalties of w^hipping, muti- 
lation, and death, must be supported ; and, if they w^ere 
capable of labor, it was obvious that they ought to be 
made to contribute to the expense of their maintenance. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 173 

Thence arose tlie provisions for relieving the impotent, 
and setting to work the able-bodied. But these provi- 
sions do not, on the other hand, deserve the censure 
passed on them bj the Committee of the House of Com- 
mons in 1817. They were not of a nature to induce the 
industrious to relax their efforts. They held out no 
temptations to idleness. The able-bodied, who were the 
objects of the 43d Elizabeth, were those ^'who, having 
no means to maintain themselves, used no ordinary and 
daily trade of life to get their living by;" such persons 
were, by the previous acts, criminals ; the work to which 
they were to be put was forced work ; and if they did 
not employ themselves in it, "being thereunto appointed 
as aforesaid,' the justices were to commit them to jail. 
The industrious laborer was not within the spirit or the 
words of the act. This was, indeed, the complaint of 
Lord Hale: ''The plaster," says his Lordship, *' is not 
so large as the sore. There are many poor who are able 
to work if they had it, and had it at reasonable wages, 
whereby they might support themselves and their fami- 
lies. These are not within the provisions of the law."* 

And it was long before the legislature assented to any 
extension of the 4od Elizabeth. The 8th and 9th Will. 
III. cap. 30, passed nearly a century afterwards, " To the 
intent that the money raised onli/ for the relief of such 
as are impotent as icell as poor^ may not be misapplied," 
requires all persons receiving relief, and their families, 
to wear a badge, containing a large Roman P, and the 

* See Lord Hale's paper at length, in "Burn's History of the 
Poor Laws," p. 144. 



174 CANNIBALS all; or, 

first letter of the name of the parish from which they 
received relief; the object being not, as has been sup- 
posed, to degrade the pauper, but to afford an easy means 
of detecting the overseer who had relieved an able-bodied 
person. 

The oppressive legislation of the Plantagenets and Tu- 
dors was unsuccessful. The provisions on which its 
efficacy depended, namely, the regulation of wages by 
the justices, the punishment of those who refused to 
work for such wages, or who paid more than such wages, 
and the punishment of those who left their parishes 
without license, became gradually obsolete. Legally con- 
sidered, they remained in force until the present century. 
Sir Frederic Eden has collected regulations of wages by 
the justices, from the 35th of Eliz. (1593) down to 1725. 
And the last which he gives, that regulating wages for 
the county of Lancaster in 1725, contains an exposition 
of the law by the justices, in the spirit of the times of 
Henry VIII. or Elizabeth : " That the transgressors may 
be inexcusable when punished, we, the said justices, 
publish these denunciations, penalties, punishments, and 
forfeitures which the statutes impose. No servant that 
hath been in service before, ought to be retained without 
a testimonial that he or she is legally licensed to depart, 
and at liberty to serve elsewhere, to be registered with 
the minister of the parish whence the servant departs. 
The master retaining a servant without such testimonial 
forfeits five pounds. The person wanting such testimo- 
nial shall be imprisoned till he procure it. If he do not 
produce one within twenty-one days, to be whipped as a 
vagabond. The person that gives more wages than is 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 175 

appointed by the justices shall forfeit five pounds, and be 
imprisoned ten days; the servant that takc^ more to be 
imprisoned twenty-one days. Every promise or gift 
whatever to the contrary shall be void. We, the said 
justices, shall make strict enquiries, and see the defaults 
against these ancient and useful statutes severely cor- 
rected and punished.^^ 

Free society is a recent and small experiment. 
The English Poor Laws and the English poor, con- 
stitute its only history ; for only in England has 
the experiment been made on a large scale for seve- 
ral centuries. If we have not proved its total and 
disastrous failure in England, in our Sociology, and 
in this chapter, we are resolved to prove it before 
we have done. 

It is a favorite political maxim of Englishmen, 
that taxation and representation should go hand in 
hand ; and that none shall be taxed without their 
own consent. Yet in Great Britain, the working 
men, who pay every cent of tax, are not repre- 
sented at all, have no vote in elections, and are 
taxed without and against their own consent ; whilst 
the capitalist class, who pay no taxes, but, as Ger- 
rit Smith truly says, are the mere conduits, that 
pass them from the laborers to the government. 
This vampire capitalist class impose all the taxes, 
and pay none. Alas ! poor human nature ! It is 
ever grasping at truth, and hugging itself. 



176 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE FRENCH LABORERS A^ THE FRENCH 
REVOLUTION. 

Each of the many French revolutions was occa- 
sioned by destitution ahnost amounting to famine 
among the laboring classes. Each was the insur- 
rection of labor against capital. But until the rev- 
olution of 1848, the revolutionists were unconscious 
alike of their motives and their objects. They be- 
lieved, till then, that political changes would 
remedy the evils which oppressed them. After the 
revolution of 1830, philosophers and statesmen, 
seeing the inadequacy of change of dynasty or of 
political policy, to alleviate the distresses of the 
great working classes, began to search deeper for 
the causes of social embarra'ssment. Suddenly the 
discovery was made, not only in France, but 
throughout Western Europe, that the disease was 
social, not political. That it was owing to the too 
unequal distribution of capital, and to its exploita- 
tion of labor. The ablest minds saw, as well in 
England as in France, that in transferring the 
reins of government from the hands of hereditary 
royalty and nobility, to those of the capitalist 
class, that the people had exchanged a few masters 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 177 

for thousands of extortioners. Never did so vast a 
moral, intellectual and social movement arise so 
suddenly, and spread so rapidly. The thing be- 
came the rage and fashion. Even in America, our 
Northern folks affected a disease, which they did 
not feel, just as Alexander's courtiers aped his wry 
neck ; and anti-rentism and land monopoly became 
the constant theme of conversation, lectures, 
speeches, books and essays. In France and in 
England, prior to 1830, there had been a few So- 
cialists, such as Fourier and St. Simon, Owen and 
Fanny Wright — but they were little heeded, and 
generally considered about half crazy. Immedi- 
ately thereafter, by far the greater portion of the 
literary mind of Europe imbibed, in whole or in 
part, the doctrines of these early Socialists. The 
infection soon reached the lower classes, and occa- 
sioned revolution, intended to be social as well as 
political, throughout Western Europe. The Provi- 
sional Government in France, which immediately 
succeeded to the expulsion of Louis Philippe, was 
composed entirely of Socialists, and its programme 
and attempted measures were thoroughly socialistic. 
The subject of the condition of the laboring 
classes in Europe, and especially in France, was 
handled with an accuracy of detail and a breadth 
of scientific expression in a review of our own 
work in the Literary Messenger of March, 1855, 
of which Ave are incapable. The author, Professor 



178 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

H. of Yirginia, is our corresponding acquaintance 
only. Informed by letter that he would review us, 
and that he concurred in the general truth of our 
theory, we suggested to him in reply, that he 
should, from his vast stores of learning, strengthen 
our main positions. He thought the suggestion a 
good one, and fulfilled our request, with an ability 
and learning, that no other man, on so short a no- 
tice, could have done. As we have prompted, if 
not caused his toil, we make no apology for appro- 
priating so much of his review as seems to be a 
reply to our suggestion : 

From the principles as laid down in theory and exem- 
plified in practice, we proceed to the effects. That re- 
ligion has been undermined, morals contaminated, crime 
increased, misery extended, deepened and multiplied, 
want and starvation augmented, society agitated, and 
orderly government endangered by the progress of the 
so-called prosperity of the free labor system, is evident, 
without further proof, to any one who reads contempo- 
rary literature, who pays attention to the statements o* 
newspapers, and of Poor Law Reports, who notes the 
cases brought before the police or criminal courts, or is 
cognizant from any source of information, of the actual 
condition of the multitude and of the poor in England, 
Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Prussia, and parts 
of Switzerland, and in New England and the Northern 
States. The connection of the results with the causes; 
is ably traced by Mr. Fitzhugh, but not with sujQ&cient 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 179 

care, minuteness and precision ; and the actual cliaracter 
and enormity of the results is exhibited by him, and by 
an indefinite array of the most various and unexception- 
able testimony. The History of the Working Classes, 
by Robert du Var^ -which we have joined with the So- 
ciology for the South, as the text for the present observa- 
tions, is full of evidence to this effect with regard to 
France ; and for the other countries specified, ample tes- 
timony may be easily obtained. The Boston papers will 
suffice to illustrate the wretchedness of the laboring 
classes in New England : the New York Herald and 
Tribune, the works of Stephen Pearl Andrews, and of 
Greeley himself, will render the same service for the 
other Northern States : Alton Locke, Mary Barton, May- 
hew's London Labor and the London Poor, the debates 
in Parliament, the Reports of the Poor Law Commis- 
sioners, and the English Reviews^ will amply illustrate 
the condition of G-reat Britain and Ireland; and for 
Germany, reference may be made to Hacklander's Euro- 
parsches Sclavenleben, a work which has followed the 
example of Uncle Tom's Cabin, and portrayed the condi- 
tion of the inferior classes in Europe, as a much more 
legitimate object of European sympathy and considera- 
tion than American Slavery. Where the evidence is so 
abundant and voluminous, selection would be as unneces- 
sary as it would be tedious. It is within the reach of 
every one who desires to consult it; and we need not 
load our pages with extracts to prove what has been fre- 
quently and sufficiently proved before, and what is so 
notoriously true as to be undeniable. A few quotations 
to illustrate the condition of free labor societies we may 



180 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

indeed quote at a later period, in connection with a dif- 
ferent division of the argument ; but they are wholly 
unnecessary to confirm the allegation of the wretchedness 
and depravity which are consuming the vitals of the 
principal free societies of the Nineteenth Century. They 
are rendered still more unnecessary by the fact that the 
acceptability of Socialism in all of those communities, 
betrays the extent of both the misery and the social dis- 
ease to be cured ; and the confession of the multitude of 
recent writers on social topics, admits not merely the 
evils which we have specified, and their dependence on 
the theory and practice of free societies, but acknowl- 
edges also the truth of the general conclusion, that the 
free societies enumerated have unquestionably failed, 
they have not produced the permanent or general bless- 
ings anticipated from them, they have produced over- 
whelming social disaster, multiplied indefinitely the woes 
and the vices of the poor, threatened all society and gov- 
ernment and national existence in those communities, and 
announced a future so dark that little more than its 
gloom and spectral shapes can be distinctly recognized. 

We regard Mr. Fitzhugh's employment of these ad- 
missions by European writers and Northern reformers, 
as constituting the most important position of his argu- 
ment, and the most characteristic novelty in his defence 
of the South. The testimonies which he adduces are 
very strong and pointed, but they may be easily multi- 
plied, and will gain an accession of strength from such 
multiplications. For years we have carefully collected 
similar acknowledgments from foreign writers, and cheer- 
fully contribute them to the cause of the South, and the 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 181 

fortification of Mr. Fitzhugh's position. And let it be 
remembered, that neither in the Sociology for the South, 
nor in the quotations which will be shortly introduced 
here, is the sole or principal obligation due to Chartists, 
Socialists, Communists, or Agrarians of any sort. From 
such authors some admissions have been received, but 
the chief contributions are derived from those who have 
been the most strenuous supporters of past social ar- 
rangements, and who, notwithstanding a great diversity 
of views, abilities, studies, and opportunities of knowl- 
edge, stlil represent the sober conservative sense of their 
respective communities. We regret that Mr. Fitzhugh 
should have extended so much countenance to the Social- 
ists, and should have partially identified Socialism and 
Slavery, but the strongest part of his testimonies to the 
failure of free societies, is derived from other declarations 
than theirs, and we shall imitate his example. 

We begin, however, with a Socialist, but almost the 
only one whom we shall summon to the stand: 

"The French Kevolution was an abortion. The trad- 
ing classes (la houryeoisie) organized themselves in the 
name of capital, and, instead of becoming a man, the 
serf became a proletaire. What then was his situation? 
The most painful of all, the most intolerable which can 
be conceived. Like all the proietaires, the trading classes 
had shouted: 'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity/ The re- 
sult has been that every thing which was proletaire — that 
is to say, all those who have no capital, groan under the 
most cruel usage (^pxj)Ioifat{on.) They cannot be free- 
men, nor brothers, nor equals. Not free, because their 
daily bread depends on a thousand accidents produced 



182 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

and engendered by the competition of capitalists among 
themselves ; not brothers, because, with hearts crushed 
and lacerated by the evils which overwhelm them, they 
cannot love those whose creed is so fatal to them; not 
equals, because capital being the supreme law, it is only 
through it that any participation or concurrence in social 
power is possible/' * 

An apology is due for not attempting to translate the 
term proletaires in the above passage, but every one fa- 
miliar with the condition of modern free societies, is 
aware that it is absolutely untranslateable. It is an in- 
dispensable word in modern times, and the impossibility 
of avoiding its use is a stronger proof of the failure of 
free societies, than the invention of the phrase Sociology, 
which Mr. Fitzhugh regards in this light. It ought to 
be unhesitatingly introduced into the English language; 
it can boast of a very respectable Latin descent; it oc- 
curs in the XII Tables, and originally signified a person 
of the lowest class, too poor to pay taxes, and unable to 
serve the State otherwise than by raising children and 
thus increasing the population! — a very doubtful service 
in modern Europe. 

We return to Mr. Robert du Yar : 

^'It must be remarked, that what is called pauperism, 
this sore, this ulcer, which infests, and more and more 
consumes the body social, could not exist in the same de- 
gree amongst the nations of antiquity. It is a phenom- 



* Robert (du Var.) Hist, de la Classe Ouvriere. Dedicace aux 
Travailleura. tome. I. p. X-XI. 

t Aulus Gellius. Noct. Alt. lib. XVI, c. X. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 183 

enon which could only arise as the consequence of the 
transformation of slavery into serfdom, and of serfdom 
into free labor (^proUtariaL) =5= * * In antiquity, 
every one, whether free or not, citizen or slave, was al- 
ways connected with some centre which ensured at least 
his material support/' '*'' 

''As a result of the individual liberty, independent of 
any central power, proclaimed by Christianity, favored 
and developed by the instincts of the Northern barbari- 
ans, legitimated and transformed into a social doctrine by 
the institution of Communes, was formed and agglome- 
rated throughout Europe an innumerable population, 
having no material connection with the regular society, 
and havino; for itself nothin"; but the most naked lib- 
erty, that is to say, misery, poverty, isolation. Thence 
issued the poor, the beggars, the thieves — in one word, 
parias of every description, with whom society was com- 
pelled to compound, willingly or reluctantly, by the 
foundation of establishments intended to palliate the 
bleeding wound of the pauperism which had been engen- 
dered by liberty/' f 

"From whatever point the modern system is regarded, 
it seems impossible not to recognize that the Politico- 
economical rule of free competition is the negation, as its 
name indicates, of all ties and communion of interests 
between the members of society. Free competition is a 



*Hist. de la Classe Ouvriere. liv. IX. chap. YII. tome. III. p. 
100. 

t Hist, de la Classe Ouv. liv. IX. cliap. VII. p. 102, tome. III. 
p. 102. 



184 CANNIBALS ALL ; OR, 

free field open to every individual, provided or not with 
the elements necessary and indispensable to its manifesta- 
tions; free competition, in a word, is liberty, but liberty 
without other rule than the material and moral force, of 
which each one may be able to dispose in the presence of 
the thousand causes which produce a difference in the 
position of individuals.'^ * 

"But, we say that a system which thus arms, morally, 
the poor against each other, is a barbarous system, and 
contrary to civilization : it is barbarous, inasmuch as it 
developes all the bad tendencies of the human heart : it 
is contrary to civilization, because, instead of facilitating 
harmonious relations among men, it inclines them to 
mutual repulsion and hostility." f 

This is a sufficient sample of M. Kobert du Yar's tes- 
timony. The greater part of his work is to the same 
effect : and there is a singular accordance between his 
censures of Political Economy,;}; and those uttered by 
Mr. Fitzhu;i;;h. They merit especial attention. 

We will cite another Socialist, M. Vidal : 

^•The ox, the horse, the hog eat according to their 
hunger : their desires are even anticipated : they have 
their subsistence assured. It is the same thing in the 
case of the slave. For the ox, the horse, the hog, the 
slave, belong to a master, and their loss is the loss of the 
owner : res perit domino, says the Digest. But with the 
hired laborer it is different ! He belongs to himself. 



*Ibid. No. XIV. chap. I. tome. IV. p. 285-6. 
flbid. No. XIII. chap. II. tome. IV. p. 247. 
ilbid. No. XII. chap. III. tome. IV. p. 50-105. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 185 

His death is the loss of his family whom he maintained, 
and who will no longer find the means of living. What 
matter to an employer is the death of a hired laborer? 
Are there not every where millions of arms always ready 
to offer themselves at reduced wages ? '' * 

Let us turn to evidence of a different character. Here 
is Sir Robert Peel's testimony to the condition of Ire- 
land before 1844, previous to the potato-rot and the 
famine : 

*'It may be assured that the fourth class of houses, 
(according to the census,) are generally unfit for human 
habitation ; and yet it would appear that in the best cir- 
cumstanced county, in this respect, the county of Down, 
24.7 per cent., or one-fourth of the population, live in 
houses of this class : while in Kerry, the population is 
66.7 percent., or about two-thirds of the whole; and, 
taking the average of the whole population of Ireland, as 
given by the census commissioner, we find that in the 
rural districts about 43 per cent, of the families, and in 
the civic districts, about 36 per cent, inhabit houses of 
the fourth class. ={= * * 

'^ The lowest, or fourth class, remember, comprises all 
mud cabins, having but one room." f 

Mr. Kay, from whom the foregoing remarks of Sir 
Robert Peel are quoted, thus comments upon a murder 
committed in open day in Ireland. ' The two murderers 
had escaped : 

•^Vidal. Repartition des Ricbesses. ptie. II. chap. III. 

■j-Tlie Social Condition and Education of the People of Eng- 
land and Europe. By Joseph Kay, Esq., M. A., chap. I, vol. 
I, p. 314. 



186 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

^^Wliy," he asks, ^^were not these men apprehended? 
Because of the rottenness that there is in the state of 
society in these districts ; because of the sympathy which 
there is on the part of the great bulk of the population 
with those who, by these dreadful acts of vengeance, are 
supposed to be the conservators of the rights of the ten- 
ant, and supposed to give him that protection which im- 
perial legislation has denied. The first thing that ever 
called my attention to the condition of Ireland, was the 
reading an account of one of these outrages. I thought 
of it for a moment, but the truth struck me at once : 
and all I have seen since confirms it. When law refuses 
its duty — when government denies the right of a people 
— when competition is so fierce for the little land, which 
the monopolists grant to cultivation in Ireland — when, in 
fact, for a bare potato, millions are scrambling, these peo- 
ple are driven back from law and from the usages of civ- 
ilization to that which is termed the law of nature, and, 
if not of the strongest, the law of the vindictive; and in 
this case the people of Ireland believe, to my certain 
knowledge, that it is only by these acts of vengeance, 
periodically committed, that they can hold in suspense 
the arm of the proprietor and the agent, who, in too 
many cases, if he dared, would exterminate them/' "^ 

A pretty result, this, for free labor and free competi- 
tion, and aboliticnism, to have arrived at. But Ireland 
was always esteemed un mauvais svjet. Let us cross St. 
George's Channel : 



*Kay, Social Condition, &c., of England and Europe, chap. 
I, vol. I, p. 317-318. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 187 

"The English peasant is thus deprived of almost every 
motive to practice economy, and self-denial, beyond what 
suffices to provide his family with food and clothing. 
Once a peasant in England, and a man cannot hope that 
he himself, or his children, will ever be anything better, 
than a mere laborer for weekly hire. 

"This unhappy feature of an English peasant's life 
was most powerfully, and only too justly depicted in 
those articles of ^ The Times,' to which I have referred 
above. It was there shown that during the last half cen- 
tury, every thing has been done to deprive the peasant of 
any interest in the preservation of public order; of any 
wish to maintain the existing constitution of society; of 
all hope of raising himself in the world, or of improving 
his condition of life ; of all attachment to his country ; 
of all feelings of there really existing any community of 
interest between himself and the higher ranks of society ; 
and of all consciousness that he has anything to lose by 
political changes ; and that every thing has been done to 
render him dissatisfied with his condition, envious of the 
richer classes, and discontented with the existing order of 
things.'^ * 

This, too, is a pretty picture, which i% not relieved by 
the further information that, 

"In the year 1770, there were, it is said, in England 
alone, 250,000 freehold estates in the hands of 250,000 
different families. In the year 1815, at the close of the 
revolutionary war, the whole of the lands of England 

*Kay, chap. II, vol. I, p. 361. 



188 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

were concentrated in the hands of only 32,000 pro- 
prietors." * 

^' What is the result? The labor market in the manu- 
facturing towns is constantly overstocked ; the laborers 
and shopkeepers find new and eager competitors con- 
stantly added to the list; competition in the towns is 
rendered unnaturally intense ; profits and wages are both 
unnaturally reduced; the town work-houses and the town 
gaols are crowded with inmates; the inhabitants are 
overburthened with rates; and the towns swarm with 
paupers and misery. 

" I know not what others may think, but to me it is a 
sad and grievous spectacle, to see the enormous amount 
of vice and degraded misery which our towns exhibit, 
and then to think, that we are doing all we can to foster 
and stimulate the growth and extension of this state of 
things, by that system of laws, which drives so many of 
the peasants of both England and Ireland to the towns, 
and increases the already vast mass of misery by so 
doing. 

*'I speak with deliberation, when I say, that I know 
of no spectacle so degraded, and if I may be allowed to 
use a strong word, so horrible, as the back streets and 
suburbs of English and Irish towns, with their filthy 
inhabitants; with their crowds of half-clad, filthy, and 
degraded children, playing in the dirty kennels; with 
their numerous gin-palaces, filled with people, whose 
hands and fiices show how their flesh is, so to speak, im- 



*Kay, chap. II, 2nd vol., p. 370. citing Rev. H. Worsley's Es- 
say on Juvenile Depravity, p. 53. 

m 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 189 

pregnated with spirituous liquors — the only solaces, poor 
creatures, that they have ! — and with poor young girls, 
whom a want of religious training in their infancy, and 
misery, has driven to the most degraded and pitiful of 
all pursuits/'* 

^'Of 1600, [pauper children in London,] who were 
examined, 162 confessed that they had been in prison, 
not merely once, nor even twice, but some of them seve- 
ral times ; 116 had run away from their homes ; 170 
slept in the "lodging-houses;" 253 had lived altogether 
by beggary; 216 had neither shoes nor stockings; 280 
had no hat or cap, or covering for the head; 101 had no 
linen ; 349 had never slept in a bed ; many had no 
recollection of ever having been in a bed; 68 were the 
children of convicts/' f 

"The further we examine, the more painful, disgust- 
ing and incredible does the tale become. 

"We see on every hand stately palaces, to which no 
country in the world offers any parallel. The houses of 
our rich are move gorgeous and more luxurious than 
those of any other land. Every clime is ransacked to 
adorn or furnish them. The soft carpets, the heavy rich 
curtains, the luxuriously easy couches, the beds of down, 
the services of plate, the numerous servants, the splendid 
equipages, and all the expensive objects of literature, 
science, and the arts, which crowd the palaces of Eng- 
land, form but items in an ensemble of refinement and 



*Kay, chap. I, vol. I, p. 372-3. 
•j-Kay, chap. I, vol. I, p. 395. 



190 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

magnificence, which was never imagined or approached, 
in all the splendor of the ancient empires. 

''But look beneath all this display and luxury, and 
what do we see there ? A pauperized and suffering 
people. 

''To maintain a show, we have degraded the masses, 
until we have created an evil so vast, that we now despair 
of ever finding a remedy.'^ * 

We may now dismiss Mr. Kay — this testimony is suf- 
ficiently direct and sufficiently ample : and yet it would 
have been easy to have introduced many more and 
stronger statements made by him, which have been omit- 
ted because they were too long to be quoted. Mr. Kay 
is neither Chartist nor Socialist. He is a graduate of 
Trinity College, Cambridge, a Barrister-at-law, and has 
traveled over Europe for eight years, under an appoint- 
ment from the Senate of the University of Cambridge, 
as Traveling Bachelor of the University, commissioned 
" to travel through Western Europe in order to examine 
the social condition of the poorer classes of the difi"erent 
countries."'}' The evidence of such a man should be 
authoritative, but we will continue our quotations : 

"It is undeniable that morality has declined in our 
days with the progress of knowledge." J 

"One word more, and we have done. On many ques- 
tions of practical duty, men are now afi"ecting to be wiser 



*Kaj, chap. I, vol. I, p. 452-3. 
f Kay, chap, I, vol. I, p, 4. 

JSaisset, Sur la Philosophie et la Religion du XIX. Si^cle. p. 
222. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 191 

and better than the Bible. Plans of social progress and 
improveraent are rife, that have an air of transcendental 
refinement about them, unknown to the homely morality 
of the Word of God. We are becoming too sentimental 
to endure that even the murderer shall be put to death. 
And now we are for bettering God's ordinance of mar- 
riage itself; and we see a fine, romantic, tender charm in 
an alliance of brothers and sisters, on which God has 
stamped his curse. What may such things betoken ? 
Are they ominous of such unbridled lawlessness and lust 
as marked the days before the Flood ? Are they signs 
of the days not unlike these that are to precede the 
comino; of the Son of Man V ^^ 

^'The task of restoring; health and soundness to a so- 
ciety so fearfully diseased as ours unquestionably is, is 
on all hands acknowledged to be at once the noblest and 
the most imperative to which citizens or statesmen can 
now direct their energies." f 

" Society, such as it now is in England, will not con- 
tinue to endure, &c.''| 

^' The last battle of civilization is the severest : the 
last problem the knottiest to solve. Out of all the mul- 
titudinous ingredients and influences of the past ; out of 
the conquest of nature, and the victory of freedom ; out 
of the blending and intermixture of all previous forms 



* North British Review, No. XXIV, Art. IX, Feb. 1850. p. 
299-300. Am. Ed. 

fEdingb. Rev. Oct. 1849. Art. VI, p. 497-8. Engl. Ed. 

J Chateaubriand. Essays on English Literature. Paris. 1838, 
cited by Kay» 



192 CANNIBALS ALL ; OE, 

of polity and modifications of humanity, has arisen a 
complex order of society, of which the disorders and 
anomalies are as complex as its own structure. We are 
now summoned to the combat, not with material difficul- 
ties, nor yet with oppressors nor with priests, but with 
an imperfect and diseased condition of that social world 
of which we form a part; with pains and evils appalling 
in their magnitude, baffling in their subtlety, perplexing 
in their complication, and demanding far more clear in- 
sight and unerring judgment, than even purity of pur- 
pose, or commanding energy of will. This conflict may 
be said to date from the first French Revolution ; and it 
has been increasing in intensity ever since, till it has 
reached to a vividness and solemnity of interest, which 
surpasses and overshadows the attractions of all other 
topics, &c. &c." * 

" England's rapidly accelerating decline is a very re- 
markable and mournful phenomenon; it is a mortal sick- 
ness for which there is no remedy. I liken the English 
of the present day to the Romans of the third century 
after Christ." f 

The analogy might be extended to nearly all of modern 
civilization. 

^' Tremendous catastrophes have come to pass, and 
there is no resistance ; not a semblance of great men, no 
joy or enthusiasm, no hopes for the future, except that 
the time will one day come, when by means of mutual 
instruction every peasant boy shall be able to read. The 

* Westminster Review, No. CXI. Art. III. Jan. 9. 1852. 
f Niebuhr. Life and Letters, p. 506. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 193 

truth of the thing is the unyeiled destitution of the pop- 
ulace, who are resolved to bear it no longer, and tbis 
again paves the way for a revision of property ; which is 
not, indeed, something new under the sun, but has been 
unheard of for centuries past, and even now seems quite 
inconceivable to our politicians, who have set property, 
in the place of God, in the Holiest of Holies, &c, &c/^* 
AVe cannot venture to extend our extracts, though we 
have the materials before us to increase them ten — nay, 
twenty-fold. We contribute these merely as a confir- 
mation of Mr. Fitzhugh's position, that, really and 
confessedly, Free Society has proved a calamitous and 
irremediable failure in the principal communities of 
Christendom. 

* Niebubr, Ibid. p. 528. See also, p. 526. 



194: CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE REFORMATION— THE RIGHT OF PRIVATE 
JUDGMENT. 

The Reformation, like the American Revolution, 
was originated and conducted to successful issue by 
■wise, good and practical men, whose intuitive judg- 
ments and sagacious instincts enabled them to feel 
their way through the difficulties that environed 
them. Wise men knoAv that there is too much of 
complexity in the tangled web of human affairs, to 
justify the attempt at once to practice and philoso- 
phise, to act and to reason. Fools and philoso- 
phers too often mar the good works of such men, 
by pretending to see clearly, and to define accu- 
rately, the principles of action which have led to 
those works. A Washington, a Peel, or a Welling- 
ton, never "writes himself down an ass" by ap- 
pealing to abstract principles to justif}^ measures 
which are rendered necessary by a thousand minute 
and peculiar circumstances of the hour, which com- 
mon sense and experience instinctively appreciate, 
but which philosophy in vain attempts to detect or 
to generalize. Common sense never attempts *' to 
expel nature," but suggests and carries through a 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 195 

thousand useful reforms by recurrence to and com- 
parison with the past, and by cautious experi- 
mentation. 

Common sense sometimes errs by excess of con- 
servation; but it is better to err with Pope, who 
thought "Whatever is, is right," than with Jefferson, 
whose every act and word proves that he held that 
" "Whatever is, is lurong. 

The Reformation was not the thought and the 
act of Luther, Calvin, Cranmer and Erasmus; but 
the thought and the act of society — the vox Populi, 
vox Dei. Pcpes and cardinals are not infallible, but 
society is. Its harmony is its health; and to differ 
with it is heresy or treason, because social discord 
inflicts individual .misery ; and what disturbs and 
disarranges society, impairs the happiness and well- 
being of its members. 

This doctrine of the infallibility of society, is 
suggested, though not expressed, in the maxim — 
Salus populi, est suprema lex. The Puritans, in the 
early days of New England, acted it out; and if 
they hung a few troublesome old women, the good 
that they achieved v/as more than compensated for 
by any errors they may have committed. Liberty 
of the press, liberty of speech, freedom of religion, 
or rather freedom from religion, and the unlimited 
right of private judgment, have borne no good 
fruits, and many bad ones. Lifidels, Skeptics, Mil- 
lerites, Mormons, Agrarians, Spiritual Rappers, 



# 



196 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

Wakemanites, Free Negroes and Bloomers, disturb 
the peace of society, threaten the security of prop- 
erty, offend the public sense of decency, assail re- 
ligion, and invoke anarchy. Society has the right, 
and is in duty bound, to take care of itself; and 
when public opinion becomes powerless, law should 
intervene, and punish all acts, words, or opinions, 
which have become criminal by becoming danger- 
ous or injurious. 

We would rejoice to see intolerance of error re- 
vived in New England. Laxity of rule and laxity 
of public opinion is sin of itself, and leads to thou- 
sands of sins. New England is culpable for per- 
mitting Parker and Beecher to stir up civil discord 
and domestic broils from the pulpit. These men 
deserve punishment, for they have instigated and 
occasioned a thousand murders in Kansas ; yet they 
did nothing more than carry into practice the right 
of private judgment, liberty of speech, freedom of 
the press and of religion. These boasted privileges 
have become far more dangerous to the lives, the 
property and the peace of the people of this Union, 
than all the robbers and murderers and malefactors 
put together. 

The Reformation was but an effort of Nature — 
the vis medicatrix naturse — throwing: off what was 
false, vicious, or superfluous, and retaining what 
was good. 

The great men of the day but show larger por- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 197 

tions of the common thouglit. Men, and all other 
social and gregarious animals, have a community of 
thought, of motions, instincts and intuitions. The 
social hody is of itself a thinking, acting, sentient 
being. This is eminently observable with the lower 
animals. Bees and herds perform their evolutions 
with too much rapidity and precision, to leave any 
doubt but that one mind and one feeling, either 
from within or without, directs their movements. 
The great error of modern philosophy is the igno- 
rance or forgetfulness of this fact. The first de- 
parture from it was not the Reformation — for that 
was preeminently a social idea and a social move- 
ment ; — but the doctrine of the right of private 
judgment, which speculative philosophers and vain 
schismatics attempted to engraft upon it, or deduce 
from it. Human equality, the social contract, the 
let-alone and selfish doctrines of political economy, 
universal liberty, freedom of speech, of the press, 
and of religion, spring directly from this doctrine, 
or are only new modes of expressing it. Agrarian- 
ism, Free Love, and No Government, are its logi- 
cal sequences: for the right to judge for ourself 
implies the right to act upon our judgments, and 
that can never be done in a world where the private 
appropriation of all capital, and the interference of 
government, restricts our free agency, and par- 
alyzes our action on all sides. 

We sometimes think the burning of the Alexan- 



198 CANNIBALS ALL; OE, 

drian Library was a providential purification, just 
as the fictitious burning, by Cervantes, of Don 
Quixote's library ridded the world of the useless 
rubbish of the Middle Ages, by the ridicule so suc^ 
cessfully attached to it. Sure we are, tbat a fire 
that would consume all tlie theological and other 
philosophical speculations of the last two centuries, 
would be a happy God-send. 

Our Revolution, so wise in its conception and so 
glorious in its execution, was the mere assertion by 
adults of the rights of adults, and had nothing 
more to do with philosophy than the weaning of a 
calf. It was the act of a people seeking national 
independence, not the Utopian scheme of specula- 
tive philosophers, seeking to establish human equal- 
ity and social perfection. 

But the philosophers seized upon it, as they had 
upon the Reformation, and made it the unwilling 
and unnatural parent of the largest and most hide- 
ous brood of ills that had ever appeared at one 
birth, since the opening of the box of Pandora. 
Bills of Rights, Acts of Religious Freedom and 
Constitutions, besprinkled with doctrines directly at 
war with all stable government, seem to be the ba- 
sis on which our institutions rest. But only seem 
to be ; for, in truth, our laws and government are 
either old Anglo-Saxon prescriptive arrangements, 
or else the gradual accretions of time, circumstance 
and necessity. Throw our paper platforms, pream- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 199 

bles and resolutions, guaranties and constitutions, 
into the fire, and we should be none the worse off, 
provided we retained our institutions — and the ne- 
cessities that begat, and have, so far, continued 
them. 

All government proceeds ab extra. Neither in- 
dividuals nor societies can govern themselves, any 
more than the mouse caB live in the exhausted re- 
ceiver, or the clown lift himself by the lappel of 
his pantaloons. The South is governed by the ne- 
cessity of keeping its negroes in order, which pre- 
serves a healthy conservative public opinion. Had 
the negroes votes, the necessity would be removed, 
because the interest of the governing class would 
cease to be conservative. The necessity, the gov- 
erning power ab extra, would be removed. The 
little republics of ancient Greece were able to pre- 
serve the most artificial social arrangements, under 
the necessities which slavery and foreign hostile 
pressure from without begat. They were afraid of 
change, because insurrection was dangerous. 

If government on paper were really useless and 
harmless, we should say nothing about it. But it 
is fraught with danger, first because we are apt to 
rely on it for safety and security of rights, and se- 
condly because it rarely suits the occasion. Men 
and societies are endowed by Providence generally 
with sufficient knowledge and judgment to act cor- 



200 CANNIBALS ALL ; OR, 

rectly or prudently under circumstances as they 
arise ; but they cannot foresee or provide for the 
future, nor lay down rules for other people's con- 
duct. All platforms, resolutions, bills of rights 
and constitutions, are true in the particular, false 
in the general. Hence all legislation should be re- 
pealable, and those instruments are but laws. Fun- 
damental principles, or th.e higher law, are secrets 
of nature which God keeps to himself. The vain 
attempt of '' frequent recurrence to them," is but 
the act of the child who builds card houses, for the 
pleasure of knocking them down. Recurrence to 
fundamental principles and appeals to the higher 
law, are but the tocsin of revolution that may up- 
set everything, but which will establish nothing, 
because no two men are agreed as to what the 
higher law, alias ^'fundamental principles," is. 
Moses, and Lycurgus, and Solon, and Numa, 
built their institutions to last, enjoined it on the 
people never to change them, and threw around 
them the sanctity of religion, to ward off the sac- 
rilegious hand of future innovation. "A frequent 
recurrence to fundamental principles," and the 
kicking down of card houses, was not part of their 
science of government. We have often thought, 
that of all the lost arts, the art of government was 
the only one w^hose loss we would deplore, or w^hose 
recovery is worth the pains of study and research. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 201 

To US it seems that " first causes," '' fundamental 
principles," and the "higher law," mean one and 
the same thing : An " ignis fatuus," that it is dan- 
gerous to pursue, and hopeless to overtake. 

We may be doing Mr. Jefferson injustice, in as- 
suming that his "fundamental principles" and Mr. 
Seward's " higher law," mean the same thing; but 
the injustice can be very little, as they both mean 
just nothing at all, unless it be a determination to 
inaugurate anarchy, and to do all sorts of mischief. 
We refer the reader to the chapter on the Declara- 
tion of Independence," &c,, in our Sociology, for 
a further dissertation on the fundamental powder- 
cask abstractions, on which our glorious institutions 
affect to repose. We say affect, because we are 
sure neither their repose nor their permanence 
would be disturbed by the removal of the counter- 
feit foundation. 

The true greatness of Mr. Jeff*erson was his fit 
ness for revolution. He was the genius of innova- } 
tion, the architect of ruin, the inaugurator of anar- ' 
chy. His mission was to pull down, not to build up. 
He thought everything false as well in the physical, 
as in the moral world. He fed his horses on pota- 
toes, and defended harbors with gun-boats, because 
it was contrary to human experience and human 
opinion. He proposed to govern boys without the 
authority of masters or the control of religion, 



202 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

supplying their places with Laissez-faire philoso- 
phy, and morality from the pages of Lawrence 
Sterne. His character, like his philosophy, is ex- 
ceptional — invaluable in urging on revolution, but 
useless, if not dangerous, in quiet times. 

We would not restrict, control, or take away a 
single human right or liberty, which experience 
showed was already sufficiently governed and re- 
stricted by public opinion. But we do believe that 
the slaveholding South is the only country on the 
globe, that can safely tolerate the rights and liber- 
ties which we have discussed. 
f The annals of revolutionary Virginia were illus- 
\ trated by three great and useful men. The mighty 
; mind of Jeiferson, fitted to pull down ; the plastic 
\ hand of Madison to build up, and the powerful arm 
' of Washington to defend, sustain and conserve. 
We are the friend of popular government, but 
only so long as conservatism is the interest of the 
governing class. At the South, the interests and 
feelings of many non-property holders, are identified 
w^ith those of a comparatively few property holders. 
It is not necessary to the security of property, that 
a majority of voters should own property; but where 
the pauper majority becomes so large as to discon- 
nect the mass of them in feeling and interest from the 
property holding class, revolution and agrarianism 
are inevitable. We will not undertake to say that 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 203 

events are tending this way at the North. The 
absence of laws of entail and primogeniture may 
prevent it ; yet we fear the worst ; for, despite the 
laws of equal inheritance and distribution, wealth 
is accumulating in few hands, and pauperism is in- 
creasing. We shall attempt hereafter to show that 
a system of very small entails might correct this 
tendency. 



204 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE NOMADIC BEGGARS AND PAUPER BANDITTI OF 

ENGLAND. 

Under various names, sucli as Proletariat in 
France, Lazzaroni in Italy, Lcperos in Mexico, 
and Gypsies throughout all Europe, free society is 
disturbed and rendered insecure, by the class, a 
description of which we shall draw from the British 
writers. We do not hesitate to assign to the Gyp- 
sies the same origin with the rest. They are all 
the outgrowth of runaway and emancipated serfs. 
The time of the appearance of the Gypsies is co- 
eval with the universal liberation and escape of 
the villeins. 

If this diluvies of society is by nature vicious, 
nomadic and incapable of any self-control, it is ob- 
vious they should be enslaved. If emancipation of 
their ancestors and the throwing them upon the ■ 
world without property or other means of support, 
made them and their posterity, from necessity, beg- 
gars. Pariahs and Ishmaelites, they should be re- 
stored to slavery, unless some better disposition of 
them can be discovered. 

North British Review, "Literature and Labor 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 205 

Question," February No. 1851. The passage we 
quote is from a work of Mr. Mayhew : 

^' That we, like tlie Hottentots, Kaffirs, and Fins, are 
surrounded by wandering hordes, the 'sonquas' and 'fin- 
gons' of this country, paupers, beggars and outcasts, pos- 
sessing nothing but what they acquire by depredation 
from the industrious, provident and civilized portion of 
the community ; that the heads of these nomads are re- 
markable for a greater development of the jaws and 
cheek bones, than of the skull, and that they have a se- 
cret language of their own — an English 'cuzecat,' or 
' slang/ as it is called, for the concealment of their de- 
signs ; these are points of coincidence so striking, that, 
when placed before the mind, they make us marvel why 
the analogy has been so long unobserved. The resem- 
blance once discovered, however, becomes of great ser- 
vice in enabling us to use the moral characteristics of the 
nomadic races of other countries, as a means of compre- 
hending more readily those of the vagabonds and out- 
casts of our own. ^^ ^ ^ The nomad there is distin- 
guished from the civilized man by his repugnance to reg- 
ular and continuous labor — by his want of providence in 
laying up a store for the future ; by his inability to per- 
ceive consequences ever so slightly removed from imme- 
diate apprehension; by his passion for stultifying herbs 
and roots, and when possible, for intoxicating fermented 
liquors; for his extraordinary powers of enduring priva- 
tion ; by his comparative insensibility to pain ; by an im- 
moderate love of gaming; frequently risking his own 
personal liberty on a single cast ; by his love of libidin- 



206 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

ous dances ; by the pleasure wliicli he experiences in 
witnessing the sufferings of sentient creatures ; by his 
delight in warfare and all perilous sports ; by his desire 
for vengeance ; by the looseness of his notions as to pro- 
perty ; by the absence of chastity among his women, and 
his disregard of female honor ; and lastly by his vague 
sense of religion, his rude idea of a Creator, and utter 
absence of all appreciation of the mercy of the Divine 
Spirit. 

''The nomadic races of England are of many distinct 
kinds — from the habitual vagrant, half beggar, half 
thief, sleeping in barns, tents, and casual wards, to the 
mechanic on the tramp, obtaining his bed and supper 
from the trade societies in the different towns on his way 
to seek work. Between these two extremes, there are 
several mediate varieties, consisting of pedlars, show- 
men, harvest men, and all that large class who live by 
either selling, showing, or doing something through the 
country. There are, so to speak, the rural nomads — not 
confining their wanderings to any one particular locality, 
but ranging often from one end of the land to the other. 
Besides these, there are urban and suburban travellers, 
or those who follow some itinerant occupation in and 
about the large towns. Such are in the metropolis, more 
particularly the pickpockets, the beggars, the prostitutes, 
the street sellers, the street performers, the cab-men, the 
coachmen, the watermen, the sailors, and such like. In 
each of these classes, according as they partake more or 
less of the family vagabond, doing nothing whatever for 
their living, but moving from place to place, preying 
upon the earnings of the more industrious part of the 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 207 

community — so will the attributes of the nomad tribe be 
found to be more or less marked.'^ 

To the same effect, read the following from July 
No. 1852, of Edinburgh Review, in article on 
" Mendicity; its causes and statistics :" 

There live, then, in the midst and about all the Eng- 
lish population, a distinct population, fearful in numbers, 
constantly and rapidly increasing, having a language, 
manners, and customs of its own — living, in nine cases 
out of ten, in a course of life the most immoral and pro- 
fligate ; and jet so living, and so increasing, in spite of 
the laws, in spite of the municipal arrangements. of the 
last few years, so favorable to their detection and punish- 
ment; in spite of the new poor-law arrangements; and 
in spite of the general feeling that the poor-rates and 
the union ought to provide for all real cases of destitution 
and misery. This population has its signs, free-masonry, 
its terms of art, its correspondence, its halting-houses, 
its barns still kept open, and even well-strawed by far- 
mers and country gentlemen ; its public-houses, its well- 
known and even recognized lodging houses; and its 
manifold plans to extract or extort, to win or to scold, 
out of its reluctant but deceived victims, sums amount- 
ing, we are inclined to believe, to not less than 
.£1,375,000 ; being one-third of the total amount of 
poor-rates ! This sum may at first appear utterly extrav- 
agant ; but it will not be found to be so when it is re- 
membered, that on an average each begging family 
extorts £55 per annum from the public. The annual 



208 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

poor law expenditure for tlie year ending in Marcli, 
18-40, in England, was, in round numbers, £4,300,000. 
In England, including the three ridings of Yorkshire, 
there are forty-two counties. The population of those 
counties is nearly fifteen millions. If we take at this 
moment a rough and general, though a tolerably correct 
estimate of that population, with its dense misery in 
towns and cities, and its diffused but not less individ- 
ually intense misery in the agricultural districts, we may 
fairly calculate that one out of every one hundred is a 
beggar or lives in a state of practical vagrancy — looking 
in one form or other, to alms for support. The one-hun- 
dreth part of the population is 150,000; and if each 
begging family, raising £55 per annum from the public 
by alms, be estimated as consisting of six, we shall have 
25,000 English begging families, raising £55 per an- 
num each, or the total sum of £1,375,000. But we be- 
lieve that we have underrated, instead of overstated the 
facts of the case in these calculations. In London alone 
and its vicinity, in spite of all the efforts of the police, a 
very large part of that sum is extorted ; and we have 
not taken into consideration the wholesale mendicity 
which is now deplorably manifest in the larger Eng- 
lish manufacturing towns. We have also omitted all 
Irish mendicants ; and yet they are nearly in the pro- 
portion of one to three in the English agricultural dis- 
tricts. Naturally anxious as we are to avoid even the 
appearance of exaggeration, we are still bound to state, 
that the estimate we have made is greatly deficient, and 
that we have understated the real statistics. 

The begging population of England, existing and in- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 209 

creasing in spite of municipal police, and notwithstand- 
ing the penalties of the vagrant act, is divided into 
several classes; and we now propose to draw upon a little 
pamphlet, mentioned at the head of this article, which 
has been recently published at Birmingham, and which 
contains very accurate details of the mendicant popula- 
tion — written by one who long frequented the haunts of 
the vagrant community. The portion of the community 
to which his details extend, belong principally to the 
hereditary and professional class of beggars. 

The writer of this family thus proceeds with his de- 
scriptive details : 

^ In order fully to explain each individual character, 
I shall begin with those vagrants who generally obtain 
the most, and are considered of the first class, and are 
by some termed ' Silver Beggars,' but by travelers 

LURKERS. 

' LuRKERs are persons who go about with briefs, con- 
taining flilse statements of losses by fire, shipwrecks, ac- 
cidents, &c. The seals and signatures of two or more 
magistrates are affixed to those briefs, and they are so 
well written, that thousands of persons are daily im- 
posed upon by them. As there are so many different 
ways used by these persons, it will be necessary to ex- 
plain each of them separately.' 

The writer then enters into details as to ^ the Fire- 
Lurkers/ or those, 'who go about begging for loss by 
fire.' They have false briefs, pretended to be signed by 
two magistrates and the clergyman of the place where 
the fire is alleged to have taken place. The documents 
are accompanied by a sham subscription-book, and the 
brief is called, in the mendicant's parlance, 'a sham,' 
whilst the subscription-book they name 'a delicate.' 



210 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

With this ^sham and delicate^ the Murkers/ or bessrars, 
proceed all over the country ) and the author states that 
one man, with whom he was acquainted, 'had been a fire- 
lurker for fourteen years, and had travelled through 
every county in England^ and the greater part of Wales.' 
Then there is, 

' The Sliiiou'Tcched Sailor's Lurk. — Persons who go 
on this lurk, generally represent themselves as captains 
or masters of merchant ships, which have been wrecked, 
and they have, of course, lost all their property ; and 
their pretended loss always amounts to many hundred 
pounds, sometimes even to thousands. This class of im- 
postors are very respectably dressed, having moustaches, 
gold chains, &c.; they have either a well-written brief, or 
one partly printed and filled up with writing and the seals 
and signatures of two or three magistrates are placed 
at the bottom. I have seen briefs of this description 
from almost every part of the kingdom,' 

He goes on to say, that one named Captain Johnstone 
had 'followed the lurk of a shipwrecked captain for 
many years, had been over every county in England and 
Wales many times, and obtained not only hundreds, but 
thousands of pounds.' He relates various anecdotes of 
the most successful ' Lurkers ' in this department. 

' The Foreigner's Lurh. — Considerable numbers pro- 
ceed on this lurk, representing themselves as foreigners 
in distress. ... Of late years, by far the greatest 
number have represented themselves as Polish noblemen 
or gentlemen, who had been driven by the tyranny of 
Russia from their native country to seek a refuge. . . . 
Their briefs have the names and seals of two magistrates 
attached, and are always well written. Whenever they 
present their briefs, they aifect not to be able to speak a 
word of English, and the few words they utter are spo- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 211 

ken in broken accent. . . . One of these lurkcrs, known 
among mendicants by the nickname of ' Lord Dundas/ 
had often got several pounds in a day. . . . There are 
also many females who go on the foreigner's lurk. ... I 
knew a female who went on the foreigner's lurk, who 
dressed very well ; she had a boy with her, and often 
succeeded in getting two or three pounds in a day. 
When she called on any one, she loaftered (spoke) in 
French, and affected not to be able to converse in the 
English language.' 

4. ' The Accident Lurlc. — Lurkers of this description 
have a slmm and delicate, (brief and book,) and the 
sham states, that by some dreadful accident the bearer 
has lost all, or at least the greater part of his property, 
sometimes by storm, and at other times by a flood, or in 
some other way : but, in whatever way the accident has 
happened, the bearer has always suffered a very consid- 
erable loss, and is deprived of the means of supporting 
himself and family. The sums raised vary from five 
shillings to a pound per day.' 

5. ' The Sick Lurk. — This is worked in so many dif- 
ferent ways, that it will be necessary to say a little on 
each. It would seem, 1st, That a common method of 
imposing upon the public is, by applying blistering oint- 
ment to the arms, causing them to have the appearance 
of having been badly scalded. 2d, That others go about 
with hands and arms tied up, said to be injured by light- 
ning, or by some other deplorable accident. 3d, Others 
affect fits. 4th, Others affect pregnancy and destitution. 
5th, Others obtain alms by the husband remaining at 
home and affecting indisposition, in case any one should 
visit his lodojino-s to examine into the merits of the case, 
whilst the wife goes out begging for wine, rags, clothes, 
&c., for the sham invalid. 6th, Others pretend to have 
bad wounds, and beg for linen rags and small bottles to 
contain medicine necessary for their cure. I saw a man 
who got, in one day, by this means, thirteen pounds' 
weight of white rags, and more than five dozen of phial 
bottles. Rags and bottles sell well. 7th, Others affect 



212 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

to have children confined with scarlet fever, &c. &c., and 
beg for them. They state that they have obtained a note 
to take their children to an infirmary or to an hospital^ 
and want a few clothes and a little money/ 

6. ^ The Deaf and Dumb Lurh. — I have known many 
persons of both sexes, who have acted as if deaf and 
dumb, and by this means succeeded very well in obtain- 
ing money, food, &c. Many of them pretend to tell for- 
tunes, and frequently get soraethino; considerable by such 
practices. They carry a slate and pencil with them, to 
write questions and answers.' 

It would appear from the pamphlet before us, that 
sometimes these deaf and dumb lurkers afiect even in 
the lodging-houses to be thus afflicted; but in such cases 
they are generally found out by their fellow vagrants. 

7. ^ TJie Servants' Lurh. — There are considerable num- 
bers who go on the servants' lurk, or as servants out ol 
place ; and both males and females frequently succeed 
well in imposing on servants and others by false state- 
ments and tales of distress. . . . The greater part of 
those who go on this lurk are neatly dressed, and have 
exactly the appearance of servants in gentlemen's fami- 
lies Many of them have the Court Guide, 

which, as it contains a list of the nobility and gentry, 
enables them to do the thing completely.' 

8. ^ Collier'' s Lurh. — This is followed by thousands 
who were never in a coal-pit, and numbers of such are 
daily imposing upon the public as colliers out of employ. 
They generally say they have been thrown out of work 
by some accident, such as the flooding of the works or 
the filling in of the pit They often go in par- 
ties from two to seven or eight Others have 

printed paper,^, which are left at each house, and called 
for again in a few hours. . . . Others have written state- 
ments of the pretended masters of the accidents, and the 
supposed signatures of the works are affixed to them. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 213 

.... Some of these obtain as much as fourteen or fif- 
teen shillings per diem/ 

9. ' The Weaver s Lurk. — There are at the present 
time great numbers "who go on this lurk, many of them 
having printed papers or small handbills, and leave 'one 
at each house, and then call again for them, and to re- 
ceive what persons are disposed to give I have 

seen men who represented themselves as weavers of every 
kind, and from all the manufacturing parts of the king- 
dom — men who I well knew had never been near a loom, 
but had been born and bred vagrants/ 

10. ' The Cotton Spinner^s Lurh. — There are many 
going on this lurk with printed papers or small handbills 

also Some who go on this lurk carry sewing 

cotton for sale, alleged to be their own spinning 

One man 1 know, who travels on this lurk, has been 
doing so for twelve years. He sometimes obtains as 
much as from twelve to fifteen shillings in one day.' 

11. ' The Calenderer's Lurh. — Those who go on this 
lurk represent themselves as calenderer's out of employ, 
through the depression of trade and improvement in ma- 
chinery. They, like sham weavers and colliers, have 
false papers, which are printed, some in poetry.' 

The sums raised by these descriptions of '■ lurks' must 
be immense, especially where the individuals have a good 
address, and can explain and enforce the written and 
printed appeals they take with them. 

' High-Fliers,' or begging letter writers, are, it would 
seem, the next in order of importance, after the Lurkers. 
' These begging letter-writers scribble false statements of 
their having been unfortunate in business, or sufiered 
great losses, which have reduced them to a state of ex- 
treme distress. In London, but especially in the water- 
ing and sea-bathing places, these letters procure as much 
as from five to one pound per day.' 

' Shallow Coves' are ' impostors begging through the 



214 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

country as shipwrecked sailors. Tliey generally clioose 
winter, and always go nearly naked. Their object in 

doing so is to obtain left-oiF clothes They have a 

long, pitiful got-up tale of pretended distress, which they 
shout through the streets, of having been shipwrecked, 

&c Shallow Coves generally go in companies, 

(or, technically speaking, in school^ of from two to ten. 
There is generally one selected to be the spokesman. 

As Shallow Coves only call at respectable houses, 

they often obtain a great deal of money.' 

* Shallow Motts' are females who, like the Shallow 
Coves, go nearly naked. They also adopt that mode of 

begging in order to obtain wearing apparel 

They plead long and severe sickness, but only ask for 
clothes. The clothes are disposed of as soon as possible, 

none being ever kept for their own use I knew 

one of these who in ten days obtained at Kingston-upon- 
Thames between seven and eight pounds' worth of clothes. 

' Cadgers' are those who make begging their trade, 
and depend upon it for their support. Cadgers on the 
downright are those who beg from door to door, and Cad- 
gers on the flij are those who beg as they pass along the 
tober, (road.) Cadging on the fly is a profitable occupa- 
tion in the vicinity of bathing-places and large towns. 
A person of this description generally gets many shil- 
lings in the course of the day. Cadging on the down- 
right (from door to door) is like all other trades, getting 
worse ; but still thousands do very well at it, and fre- 
quently get more food than they can consume 

I have often seen food, which many working people would 
gladly have eaten, shamefully and v>^antonly wasted. 

* Cadgers Children' (kiddies) ' are so well instructed 
in the arts of imposition by their parents, that they fre- 
quently obtain more in money and food than grown-up 
cadgers.' 

* Cadgers^ Screeving. — There are many cadgers who 
write short sentences with chalk on the flags, and some 
of them can do it remarkably well ; these are called scree- 
vers. I have seen the following sentences frequently 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 215 

written "by them in places where there were numbers 
passing by, and where they thought it would be likely 
to get plenty of half-pence, (browns,) and now and then 
a tanner or a hoh, (sixpence or a shilling,) 

''Hunger is a sharp thorn, and biteth keen." 
"I cannot get work, and to beg I am ashamed." 

I have known them by this means obtain seven shil- 
lings a day. 

' Cadgers' Sltting'Pad. — Whenever cadgers stand or 
sit, either in towns or by the road side, to beg, they call 
it sitting or standing pad ; and this often proves a very 
profitable method, k-ome of them affect blindness ; whilst 
others represent themselves as unable to follow any em- 
ployment, in consequence of being subject to fits. Some 
cadgers save very considerable sums of money; but these 
are very few, compared with the great number who live 
by this trade of beggary. 

' 3Iateh-seUers' never entirely depend upon selling 
matches, for they cadge as well; in fact, they only carry 
matches as a cloak for begging, and never offer them at 
any house where they expect to get more without them. 
.... Match-sellers, as well as all other cadgers, often 
get what they call ' a back-door cant ;' that is, anything 
they can carry off where they beg, or offer their matches 
for sale-' 

' Cross Coves,' though they beg their bread, can tell 
a long story about being out of employ through the 
badness of trade, &c., yet get what they call on the 
o'oss, (by theft.) . . One of their chief modes of getting 
things on the cross is by shoplifting, (called grabbing,) 
.... Another method is to star the glaze, (i. e. break 
or cut the window.) 

'Prigs (or pickpockets) are another closs of vagrants, 

and they frequent races, fairs, and prize-fights 

Like cross coves, they are generally young men who have 
been trained to vagrancy, and have been taught the arts 
of their profession in their childhood.' 

' Palmers are another description of beggars, who visit 
shops under pretence of collecting harjy half-pence; 



216 CANNIBALS ALL ; OR, 

and to induce shopkeepers to search for them, they offer 
thirteen-pence for a shilling's worth, when many persons 
are silly enough to empty a large quantity of copper on 
their counters to searcli for the half-pence wanted. The 
palmer is sure to have his hand amongst it ; and while 
he pretends to search for the harps, he contrives to con- 
ceal as many as possible in the palm of his hand, and 
whenever he removes his hand from the coppers on the 
. counter, always holds his fingers out straight, so that the 
shopkeeper has not the least suspicion that he is being 
robbed. Sums varying from five to fifteen shillings per 
diem are frequently got in this way, by characters of that 
description.' 

Extract from Edinburgh Review, Jan. No. 1844 : 

IRISH PEASANTRY. 

It is obvious that the insecurity of a community in 
which the bulk of the population form a conspiracy 
against the law, must prevent the importation of capital ; 
must occasion much of what is accumulated there to be 
exported ; and must diminish the motives and the means 
of accumulation. Who will send his property to a place 
where he cannot rely on its being protected ? Who will 
voluntarily establish himself in a country which to-mor- 
row may be in a state of disturbance? A state in which, 
to use the words of Chief Justice Bushe, ' houses, and 
barns, and granaries are leveled, crops are laid waste, 
pasture lands are ploughed, plantations are torn up, mea- 
dows are thrown open to cattle, cattle are maimed, tor- 
tured, killed ] persons are visited by parties of banditti, 
who inflict cruel torture, mutilate their limbs, or beat 
them almost to death ; men who have in any way become 
obnoxious to the insurgents, or opposed their system, or 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 217 

• 

refused to participate in their outrages, are deliberately 
assassinated in the open day ; and sometimes tbe unof- 
fenaing members of a family are indiscriminately mur- 
dered by burning the habitation.'' A state in Tvhich 
even those best able to protect themselves, the gentry, 
are forced to build up all their lower windows with stone 
and mortar; to admit light only into one sitting-room, 
and not into all the windows of that room, to fortify 
every other inlet by bullet proof barricadoes ; to station 
sentinels around during all the night, and the greater 
part of the day; and to keep fire-arms in all the bed- 
rooms, and even on the side-table at breakfast and dinner 
time. Well might even Bishop Doyle exclaim — ''I do 
not blame the absentees; I would be an absentee myself 
if I could.'' 



10 



218 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 



CHAPTER XV. 

^'RURAL LIFE OF ENGLAND." 

From ^' Rural Life of England," by Wm. H. 
HowiTT, we take the following extract : 

"The wildness into which some of these children in 
the more solitary parts of the country, grow, (recollect 
this is in Lancashire, near the great city of Manchester,) 
is, I imagine, not to be surpassed in any of the back set- 
tlements of Au.eriea. On the 5th July, 1836, the day 
of that remarkable thunder-storm which visited a great 
part of the kingdom with much fury, being driven into 
a cottage at the foot of Pendle by the coming on of this 
storm, and while standing at the door watching its pro- 
gress, I observed the head of some human creature, care- 
fully protruded from the doorway of an adjacent shed, 
and as suddenly withdrawn on being observed. To as- 
certain what sort of a person it belonged to, I went into 
the shed, but at first found it too dark to enable me to 
discover anything. Presently, however, as objects be- 
came visible, I saw a little creature, apparently a girl 
about ten years old, reared very erectly against the oppo- 
site wall. On accosting her in a kind tone, and telling 



SLAVES 'without MASTERS. 219 

her to come forward and not be afraid, she advanced from 
the wall, and behold ! there stood another little creature, 
about the head shorter, whom she had been concealing. 
I asked the elder child, whether this younger one were a 
girl. She answered, 'Ne'a.' ^Was it a boy?' ^Ne'a.' 
^What! neither boy nor girl? Was she a girl herself?' 
^Ne'a.' ^What! was it a boy I was speaking to?' 
^Ne'a.' 'What in the name of wonder were they then?' 
'We are childer.' 'Childer! and was the woman in the 
house their mother?' 'Ne'a.' 'Who was she, then?' 
'Ar mam.' '0! your mam ! and do you keep cows in 
this shed?' 'Ne'a, — bee-as.' In short, common Eng- 
lish was quite unintelligible to these poor little creatures, 
and their appearance was as wild as their speech. They 
were two fine young creatures, nevertheless, — especially 
the elder, whose form and face were full of that symme- 
try and fine grace that are sometimes the growth of un- 
restrained Nature, and would have delighted the sculptor 
or painter. Their only clothing was a sort of little bod- 
dice with skirts, made of a reddish stuff, and rendered 
more picturesque by sundry patches of scarlet cloth, no 
doubt from their mother's old cloak. Their heads, bo- 
soms, and legs to the knees, were bare to all the influ- 
ences of earth and heaven ; and on giving each of them 
a penny, they bounded off with the fleetness and elas- 
ticity of young roes. No doubt the hills and the heaths, 
the wild flowers of summer, and the swift waters of the 
glens, were the only live long day companions of these 
children, who came home only to their oatmeal dioner, 
and a bed as simple as their garments. Imagine the \io- 



220 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

lent change of life by the sudden capture and confinement 
of these Utile English savages in the night-and-day noises 
labor, and foul atmosphere of the cotton purgatories! 

''In the immediate neighborhood of towns, many of 
the swelling ranges of hills present a much more cultiva- 
ted aspect, and delight the eye with their smooth, green, 
and flowing outlines ; and the valleys, almost everywhere, 
are woody, watered with clear, rapid streams, and in 
short, are beautiful. But along the rise of the tall chim- 
neys of vast and innumerable factories, and even while 
looking on the places of the master manufactories, with 
their woods, and gardens, and shrubbery lawns around 
them, one cannot help thinking of the horrors detailed 
he fore the committee of the House of Commons, respecting 
the Factory System; of the parentless and friendless 
wretches, sent by wagon loads from distant work-houses 
to these prisons of labor and despair; of the young 
frames crushed to the dust by incessant labor; of the 
beds into which one set of children got, as another^set 
got out, so that they were said never to be cold the whole 
year round, till contagious fires burnt out and swept 
away by hundreds these little victims of Mammon's ever- 
tiro-ina; never-ceasino; wheel. Beautiful as are many of 
these wild recesses, where, before the introduction of 
steam, the dashing rivulet invited the cotton-spinners to 
erect their mills ; and curious as the remains of those 
simple original factories are, with their one great water- 
wheel, which turned their spindles while there was wa- 
ter, but during the drought of summer quite as often 
stood still; yet one is haunted even there, among the 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 221 

shadows of the fine old trees that throw their arms 
athwart streams dashing down their beds of solid rock, 
by the memory of little tender children, that never knew 
pity or kindness, but labored on and on, through noon 
and through midnight, till they slept and yet mechanic- 
ally worked, and were often awaked only by the horrid 
machinery rending off their limbs. In places like these, 
where now the old factories and large houses of the pro- 
prietors, stand deserted, or are inhabited by troops of 
poor creatures, whose poverty only makes them appear 
the more desolate. We are told by such men as Mr. 
Fielden, of Oldham, once a factory child himself, and 
now a great manufacturer, who dares to reveal the se- 
crets of the prison-house, that little children have even 
committed suicide to escape from a life worse than ten 
deaths. And what a mighty system is this now become? 
What a perpetual and vast supply of hum.an energy and 
human life it requires, with all the facilities of improved 
machinery, with all the developed power of steam, and 
with all the glowing, thirst of wealth to urge it on ! We 
are told that the state of the factories is improved, and I 
trust they are ; but if there be any truth in the evidence 
given before the Parliamentary committees, there is need 
of great amelioration yet; and it is, when we recollect 
these things, how completely the laboring class has, in 
these districts, been regarded as mere machinery for the 
accumulation of enormous capitals, that we cease to won- 
der at their uncouth and degraded aspect, and at the neg- 
lect in which they are suffered to swarm over these hills, 
like the very weeds of humanity, cast out into disre- 



222 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

garded places, and left to spread and increase in rank 
and deleterious luxuriance/' 

What is so poetically and graphically described 
by Mr. Howitt, is verified in its minutest details in 
the "Glory and Shame of England," a very inter- 
esting work by C. Edwards Lester, an abolitionist 
of JMew York, 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 223 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE DISTRESSED NEEDLE-WOMEN AND HOOD'S SONG 
OF THE SHIRT. 

We take what follows from the January No., 
1849, of the Westminster Review — we having 
nothing to remark, except as to the line from the 
French song, which has taken the place of the 
Marseilloise as the great National Song, we should 
rather say. National Dirge. It is the maddening 
cry of hunger for employment and bread, and 
more resembles the howl of the wolves of the Py- 
rennes, as they start in quest of prey, than the 
Anthem of Liberty. It truly represents, embodies 
and personifies the great Socialistic movement of 
the day. Whilst statesmen and philosophers spec- 
ulate, the mass agitate, organize and threaten. 
Winter before last, they took possession of the 
streets of New York, and levied enforced charity. 
This spring, they meet in the Park and resolve, 
"that there were fifty thousand m.en and women in 
vain seeking employment during the last inclement 
winter. America echoes to France, "Vivre en tra- 
vaillant, ou mourir en combatant ! " 'Tis the tocsin 
and the watchword of free society. 'Tis the grum- 



224 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

bling noise of the heaving volcano, that threatens 
and precedes a social eruption greater than the 
■world has yet witnessed. But let us give the lan- 
guage of the Reviewer: 

^'The question of human misery — its causes and their 
removal, is at the bottom of the movement which is now 
convulsing Europe, and which threatens to agitate it for 
some time to come. Could some practicable scheme of 
relief, generally acceptable to all classes and adequate to 
cope with the magnitude of the evil, be but suggested, 
what a load of anxiety would be taken from the mind of 
many a Minister of State ! — what comfort would be of- 
fered to many a desponding philanthropist ! 

"Human misery has at last found tongues and pens to 
make itself heard and felt. It appeals to our fcehngs 
and our understandings, to our sympathies and fears. Its 
wails melt us to pity, its ravings terrify us, its woes 
sicken us. It will no longer hide itself. We must 
either remove it, or submit to have it constantly exposed 
to our gaze in all its horrid deformity. 

" Hitherto the comfortable classes have virtually an- 
swered the bitter complaints of the uncomfortable classes 
in some such terms as these : 'Poor people! we are very 
sorry for your suffering — we really feel for you — take 
this trifle — it will be some relief. We wish we could do 
more; — and now pray be quiet — don't distress us with 
your writhings and agonies — resign yourselves to the will 
of Providence, and bear hunger and cold in peace and 
seclusion; — above all, attempt no violence, or we must 
use violence to keep you quiet.' The answer of the un- 



SLAVES WITUOUT MASTERS. 225 

comfortable classes to such admonitions, day by day bc- 
comino- more unmistakable, is: 'Relieve us, relieve us ! 
Make us comfortable, or show us how we may make our- 
selves comfortable : otherwise we must make you uncom- 
fortable. We will be comfortable or uncomfortable 
together/ 

" ' Yivre en travaillant^ ou mourir en combatant/ In 
our last number; we ventured to offer a few indications as 
to what we considered a part, an important part, of the 
remedial measures to be resorted to for the prevention of 
human miser}'-. We were then dealing with that ques- 
tion as a whole. We now propose to address ourselves to 
miseries of a class. 

''The sufferings of the distressed needle-woman have 
obtained an infamous notoriety — they are a scandal to 
our age and a reproach to our boasted civilization. They 
have been clothed in language at once truthful and im- 
pressive, full of pathos and yet free from exaggeration. 
Well known as Hood's immortal lines may be, we repro- 
duce them here, because no narrative, no statistics of 
ours, could be more true nor half so much to the 
purpose : 

THE SONG OF THE SHIRT. 

"With fingers weary and worn, 

AVith eyelids heavy and red, 
A woman sat, in unwomaulj^ rags, 

Plying her needle and thread. 
Stitch— stitch— stitch ! 

In poverty, hunger, and dirt; 
And still, with a voice of dolorous pitch, 

She sang the 'Song of the Shirt!' 



226 CANNIBALS ALL; OEj 

""Work — work — work! 

While the cock is crowing aloof! 
And work — work — work! 

Till the stars shine through the roof f 
It's 0! to be a slave, 

Along with the barbarous Turk, 
Where woman has never a soul to save^ 

If this is Christian work! 

"Work — work — work ! 

Till the brain begins to swim ; 
Work — work — work ! 

Till the eyes are heavy and dim t 
Sqam and gusset and band, 

Band and gusset and seam. 
Till o'er the buttons I fall asleep^ 

And sew them on in a dream L 

"0! men, with sisters dear! 

0! men, with mothers and wiveSj^ 
It is not linen you're wearing out! 

But human creatures' lives! 
Stitch — stitch — sdtch I 

In poverty, hunger, and dirt; 
Sewing at once, with a double thready 

A shroud as well as a shirt L 

"But why do I talk of death? 

That phantom of grisly bone? 
I hardly fear his terrible shape. 

It seems so like my own! 
It seems so like my own, 

Because of the fasts I keep — 
Oh^ God! that bread should be so dear, 

And flesh and blood so cheap I 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 227 

<< Work — work — work ! 

My labor never flags; 
And what are its wages? A bed of straw, 

A crust of bread, and — rags. 
Tliat shatter'd roof, and this naked floor, 

A table — a broken chair; 
And a wall so blank, my shadow I thank 

For sometimes falling there! 

<* Work — work — work ! 

From weary chime to chime, 
Work — work — work. 

As prisoners woi-k for crime ! 
Band and gusset and seam. 

Seam and gusset and band, 
Till the heart is sick and the brain benumb'd, 

As well as weary hand. 

"Work — work — work! 

In dull December light, 
And work — work — work, 

When the weather is warm and bright^ 
While underneath the eaves 

The brooding swallows cling. 
As if to show me their sunny backs 

And twit me with the Spring. 

"Oh! but to breathe the breath 

Of the cowslip and primrose sweet — 
With the sky above my head. 

And the grass beneath my feet, 
For only one short hour — 

To feel as I used to feel. 
Before I knew the woes of want 

And the walk that costs a meal! 



228 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

"Oh, but for one short hour! 

A respite however brief ! 
No blessed leisure for Love or IIopC; 

But only time for Grief ! 
A little weeping would ease my heart — • 

But in their briny bed 
My tears must stop, for every drop 

Hinders needle and thread ! 

"With fingers weary and worn, 

With eyelids heavy and red, 
A woman sat, in unwomanly rags, 

Plying her needle and thread — 
Stitch — stitch — stitch ! 

In poverty, hunger, and dirt, 
Would that its tone could reach the rich! 

She sang this 'Song of the Shirt!'" 

We annex part of an article from Jerrold's Mag- 
azine, which draws quite as clear a picture of the 
condition of the English poor, and points out the 
only feasible remedy for the evils of that condition : 

SLAVERY. 

THE ONLY REMEDY FOR THE MISERIES OF THE ENGLISH POOR. 
BY A PHILANTHROPIST. 

Whoever is unprepared to cast aside not only his pre- 
judices, but many of what may be considered well-formed 
opinions, had better not attempt to peruse the following 
few pages. I must demand of my reader that he come 
to the perusal, the beau ideal of a juryman. No infer- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 229 ' 

mation tliat he has gained elsewhere, no feelings that he 
has cherished as virtues, no sentiments that he has cnlti- 
yatcd as noble, and no opinions that he may have formed 
as infallible, must interfere with his purely and simply 
receiving the following arguments on their own cogency 
and truth alone. 

The writer considers he has made a great discovery in 
moral and political science; and elevated by his subject 
above all personal influences, he commits it to be worked 
out by others, without the ostentation of recording his 
name, or deeming that the applause of present or of fu- 
ture generations can add to his sublime delight, in discov- 
ering and applying a ''panacea'' to the varied and bitter 
ills that beset three-fourths of the poor inhabitants of the 
^^ United Kingdom." 

As some account of the means by which a great dis- 
covery has been arrived at is necessary, in order to pre- 
pare the mind for its reception with due respect, I shall 
give a brief outline of the process by which this all-im. 
portant truth was elicited. 

Born with natural sensibilities, I early learnt to shrink 
from pain endured by others, as if felt actually and bod- 
ily by myself. Thus constituted, what a scene was dis" 
played to me when I came into the great and moving 
society of mankind! What mighty heaps of misery did 
I discern ! What details did the records of the various 
courts of justice disclose ! What regions of squalor, 
misery, and degradation did my travels 'reveal to me in 
every city, and every hamlet, I visited ! The bent of my 
future avocation was soon fixed, and I became a philan- 
thropist by profession. Not to make a trade of it at 



230 CANNIBALS all; or, 

monster meetings, or fancy fairs, but as a pursuit to 
which I felt myself called by a spiritual voice, as dis- 
tinct, I should say, as that which ever called a theolo- 
gian from a curacy of fifty pounds a year to a bishopric 
of twenty thousand. 

It is not necessary to recapitulate the horrors I have 
witnessed in the regions of poverty. It is said that the 
eras of pestilence and famine are passed, but so will not 
those say who have visited the dwellings of the operatives 
of our great manufacturing towns, when the markets are 
glutted, and the mills and manufactories are closed. Pes- 
tilence still rages fiercely as ever, in the form of typhus, 
engendered by want. In the mission I have called my- 
self to, I have stood upon the mud floor, over the corpse 
of the mother and the new-born child — both the victims 
of want. I have seen a man (God's image) stretched on 
straw, wrapped only in a mat, resign his breath, from 
starvation, in the prime of age. I have entered, on a 
sultry summer's night, a small house, situate on the 
banks of a common sewer, wherein one hundred and 
twenty-seven human beings, of both sexes and all ages, 
were indiscriminately crowded. I have been in the pes- 
tilential hovels of our great manufacturing cities, where 
life was corrupted in every possible mode, from the ma- 
laria of the sewer to the poison of the gin-bottle. I have 
been in sheds of the peasant, worse than the hovel of the 
Russian, where eight squalid, dirty, boorish creatures 
were to be kept alive by eight shillings per week, irregu- 
larly paid. I have seen the humanities of life desecra- 
ted in every way. I have seen the father snatch the 
bread from his child, and the mother offer the gin-bottle 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 231 

for the breast. I have seen, too, generous sacrifices and 
tender considerations, to which the boasted chivalries of 
Sydney and Edward were childish ostentation. I have 
found wrong so exalted, and right so debased — I have 
seen and known of so much misery, that the faith in 
good has shivered within me. 

For a time, when I urged these things in the circles of 
the comfortable, I received many various replies. By 
some it was said that it was the lot of humanity— that it 
had always been so, and, therefore, always must. That 
to enlarge on the evil was only to create discontent, and 
so injure 'Hhe better classes." It was in vain I urged 
to these reasoners that for hundreds, and, perhaps, thou- 
sands of years, creatures little better than Calibans in- 
fested the morasses and forests of Europe. That civili- 
zation had an onward progress, and that the history of 
the world proved the one great truth — that man is the 
creature of circumstances. By some, the evils were de- 
nied : by some few, deplored. By all, the discussion was 
avoided; though the destruction that menaced the Ro- 
man empire from the invasion of the barbarian world was 
never so imminent, nor could the consequence be so 
dreadful, as that which the wealthy, and civilization it- 
self, would sustain from the insurrection of outraged 
poverty. 

I next tried the politicians. I devoted some years to 
history and political economy. I even entered the sen- 
ate. In politics, I found no means of relief The strug- 
gle there was for the preponderance in power, and the 
reply, '' Help us to get into power, and then we will see 



232 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

what we can do." The utmost was to institute inqui- 
ries; and from th 3 information thus gathered, has been 
collected a record of misery, such as never was before 
displayed. 

It is true, some steps have at last been taken in the 
right direction ; some few noble spirits have spoken out 
to the ^'comfortable," the dreadful truths. That some- 
thing must be done, is how acknowledged by all who 
think. The foolish, the careless, and the truculent, can 
no longer avowedly declare the cries and groans of the 
miserable multitude to be seditious discontent; nor as- 
cribe their suiferings to the results of retributive justice. 

Baffled in every search for a remedy at home, I deter- 
mined to search foreign nations, and having carefully 
journeyed through Europe, I sought successively the 
East and West, until I had traversed the civilized coun- 
tries of the world. It was in the remote regions of the 
East and West that I found a clue to my discovery. I 
here found mankind as multitudinous as at homo, but 
much more happy. Starvation, except in cases of gene- 
ral famine, was unknown; and, on the contrary, I heard 
the sounds of revelry and dancing, of mirth and leisure, 
amoni^st the lowest classes. How different to the ever- 
lasting toil of the superior Englishman ! ''These, then," 
I said, '^ are the concomitants of bondage ! " Having 
thus struck out the idea, I followed it up with logical 
severity, and enunciated the truth that slavery and con- 
tent, and liberty and dificonient, are natural results of 
each other. Applying this, then, to the toil-worn, half- 
fed; pauperized population of England, I found that the 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 233 

only way to permanently and efficiently remedy the com- 
plicated evils, would be to ENSLAVE the whole of the 
people of Eu'jland loho have not property. 

Of course, I expect a shout of execration and con- 
tempt at such a bold proposition ; but, as I have already 
said, I seek only to gain the hearing, at first, of the im- 
partial and the original thinker. That I am disinterested, 
will at once be allowed, when I declare I do not seek to 
be one of the enslaved. But let us proceed to examine 
how this mighty benefit would manifest itself. The first 
great advantage would be, that the lower classes of soci- 
ety would be placed on an equality with the domestic 
animals; and by becoming property, become valuable 
and valued. At present there can be no doubt that a 
horse that is worth fifty pounds is much more cared for 
than a man who is worth nothing. We have lately seen 
a case where a woman was allowed to expire in parturi- 
tion, because no more than eight shillings was allowed for 
the midwife's fee; whereas, when a fiimous racing mare 
foaled, ten guineas were not thought too great a sura to 
secure the attendance of a first-rate veterinary surgeon. 
Now, had the woman been a slave, her offspring would 
have been worth something, and, of course, her safety 
secured. 

Like all great discoveries, the ramifications of the ad- 
vantages are found to be endless, and, if once fully enter- 
tained, would be irresistible. Entire and complete sla- 
very of the poor would put an end to all the discussions 
of their rights, and clearly and definitely work out the 
relative duties of all classes. We should have no more 



234 CANNIBALS ALL; OR 



occasion for vague special pleading, such as we find in 
Paley and other moral philosophers, who endeavor to re- 
concile dependence and independence, and liberty and 
obedience. Sedition would be at once annihilated ; for 
where there was no hope nor recognition of equality, 
there would be no attempt to raise claims which were 
stifled before born. All vain ambition, such as that now 
subsisting, between the potboy and the peer, as mani- 
fested in Chesterfield's mosaic gold and cigars, would be 
prevented. The potboy would be a contented slave, and 
the peer left to his superiority in clothes, trinlfets, and 
sensualities. 

It will of course be asserted that the people would not 
be contented as slaves, but it is only to make a state in- 
evitable, and humanity is soon reconciled to it, as we are 
to death, governments, and the income-tax. Besides, 
what is liberty ? a word now almost forgotten; a battle 
sound used to juggle men in every age and country; in 
Greece, Rome, and America, the war-cry of slaves to 
fight for the liberty of slavery. Must we, then, ever 
remain the tools of words; reject all the true advantages 
of slavery because we cannot bear the name, and take all 
its evils, and more, because we wish to renounce the 
sound? What are soldiers and sailors but bondsmen? 
Indeed, they are a happy specimen of slavery ; well fed, 
clad, and tended; with plenty of leisure and repose. 
AVhy, then, should they be happier than the peasant, 
who pines away his dreary existence on bread and pota- 
toes and water ? What is the convict but a slave, who 
by his crimes has earned his right to be kept well and 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 235 

safe from the elements and want? We reward the crim- 
inal with slavery and competence, and leave the honest 
man to liberty and want. 

If, indeed, the old noble cry of ^^ Liberty and Becr^^ 
could be realized, then it were vain to urge my discov- 
ery ; but as Englishmen, in proportion as they have 
gained their liberty, have lost their beer, it behooves us 
to see whether they had not beticr hasten back to that 
state, when inventoried with their masters' swine they 
shared also their sunerfluities. 



236 CANNIBALS ALL ; OR, 



CHAPTER XYII. 

THE EDINBURGH REVIEW ON SOUTHERN SLAVERY. 

The Edinburgh Review Avell knows that the white 
laborers of Enghand receive more blows than are 
inflicted on Southern slaves. In the Navy, the Ar- 
my, and the Merchant service of England, there is 
more of cruelty, more physical discomfort, than on 
all the farms of the South. This Review, for 
twenty years, has been a grand repository of the 
ignorance, the crimes, and sufl'erings of the workers 
in mines and factories, of the agricultural laborers, 
of the apprentices, and, in fine, of the whole labor- 
ing class of England. "We might appeal to its 
pages almost passim to establish these facts. Half 
the time of Parliament is consumed in vain efforts 
to alleviate the condition of the cruelly-treated, and 
starving poor ; and much of this Review is taken 
up in chronicling the humane, but fruitless action of 
Parliament. No man in the South, we are sure, 
ever bred slaves for sale. They are always sold 
reluctantly, and generally from necessity, or as a 
punishment for misconduct. The South-West has 
been settled in great part by farmers from the older 
slave States, removing to them with their negroes. 
The breaking up of families of whites and of 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 237 

blacks keeps equal pace. But we have no law of 
impressment in the South to sever the family ties of 
either blacks or whites, ^^r have we any slavery 
half so cruel as that to which the impressed Eng- 
lish seaman is subjected. The soldiers torn from 
their wives and children, to suffer and to perish in 
every clime and on every sea, excite not the sympa- 
thies of the Reviewer ; they are all reserved for im- 
aginary cases of distress, occasioned by the break- 
ing up of families of Southern negroes. The so- 
called slave trade of the South is no evil, because 
the instances of the improper severing of family 
ties are rare. Will some Yankee or Englishman, 
ere the charge is repeated that slaves are bred to be 
sold like horses, when they are old enough for mar- 
ket, point out a single instance in the present, or 
the past, of a Southerner's pursuing such a busi- 
ness? Yankees and Englishmen kill their wives 
annually, yet it has not occurred to Englishmen at 
all, and not to the Yankee till very lately, to abol- 
ish the marriage relation. When Englishmen cor- 
rect the thousand real and pressing evils in their 
society, it will be time enough to call on us to do 
away with the imaginary abuses of slavery. These 
remarks have been elicited from us by an article on 
Southern slavery, in the April number of the Edin- 
burgh Review, which is equally distinguished for 
the falsity of its charges and the ill nature of its 
comments. As a full justification for the indefinite 



238 CANNIBALS ALL; OK, 

continuance of negro slavery, we give below an ox- 
tract from an able article from the same Review, in 
its January number, 1840, entitled *' Legislation for 
the working classes." In showing the many evils 
arising from emancipating the whites, the Reviewer 
demonstrates, though not intending it, the absurdity 
of emancipating negroes. If Irishmen, who are as 
intellectual a race of men as any in all Europe, 
have lost infinitely in physical comfort, and gained 
notliing in morals or in ujind by liberty, what will 
it avail negroes? Let Ilayti antl Jamaira answer. 
J5ut Frenchmen, Scotchmen an«l Knglishmen, we 
mean the masses, the proletariat, have lost as much 
by emancipation a-^ Irishmen. History and statis- 
tics, the jails, the gallows, and the poordiousc tell 
the same sad tale everywhere. We would be will- 
ing, if necessary, to rest the complete justification 
of negro slavery on this single extract: 

[From the KdiDburgb Kcriew, 1H46.] 
The moral and domestic feelings of the »lavc are sacri- 
ficed, and his intellect is stunted ; but iu rcupcct of hU 
physical coudition he may be a gainer. '* It is neccfisa- 
ry," says Aristotle, in his celebrated j * iuu of sla- 
very, "that those who eaunot exist sep;i , -IjmuM live 

together. He who is capable of foreseeing by his intel- 
lect, is naturally a master; ho who is able to rxccuto 
ultli his holy what another eoutrives, is naturally a slave: 
wherefore the interest of the master and slave is one." 
There is a certain degree of force in this argument, if it 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 230 

is limited to the economical relations of the two parties. 
It is the interest of the master to maintain his slave in 
good working order. In general, therefore, he is com- 
paratively well fed, clothed and lodged; his physical 
wants are provided for; his food descends into his 
mouth like the manna in the wilderness; he is clothed 
like the lilies of the field ; he has no thought or care for 
the morrow. Although complaints were made of insuffi- 
cient food and overwork, the arguments against negro 
slavery in our West India colonies were founded, mainly, 
on the necessity of constant punishment — on the driving 
system, as it was called — and the cruelty of the inflic- 
tions. The Report of the French Commission, framed 
by the Due de Broglie, which recommended the gradual 
abolition of slavery, likewise bears testimony to the excel- 
lent physical condition of the slaves in the French colo- 
nies. It is on account of the advantages which may be- 
long to dependence upon a wealthy lord, as compared 
with a needy independence, that the slave in Menander 
exclaims, that ''it is better to obtain a good master, than 
to live meanly and wretchedly as a freeman." So the 
Rhetorician Libanus, who lived in the fourth century, in 
a declamation entitled a Vituperation of Poverty, after 
having enumerated the privations and sufferings which 
fall to the lot of the poor freeman, proceeds thus : — 
^' None of these evils belong to slavery. The slave sleeps 
at his ease, being fed by the cares of his master, and 
supplied with all the other things needful for his body. 
But the poor freeman is constantly awake, seeking the 
means of subsistence, and subjected to the severe domin- 
ion of want which compels him to hunger.'^ The well- 



240 CANNIBALS ALL; OK, 

informed author of Haji Baha describes the astonish- 
ment of the vizier of the Shah of Persia, on hearing 
from the British ambassador that there is no slavery in 
England, and that the king is using his influence to put 
it down in other States. ^^ Indeed!'^ said the vizier, 
^' jou surely cannot be so cruel ! What would become of 
the poor slaves if they -were free ? Nothing can be hap- 
pier than the lot of ours ; but if they were abandoned to 
their fate, they would starve and die. They are our 
children, and form a part of our family/' 

A similar feeling is described by Mr. Kohl as existing 
among the serfs in the Baltic provinces of Russia, with 
respect to their recent emancipation. The serf is now no 
longer ahscripfus glehse ; but it is not difficult for his 
lord to find the means of detaining him on the estate if 
he wishes so to do. Mr. Kohl continue thus : — '' Though 
the right which the peasant has thus obtained is so fre- 
quently useless to him, the counter right of his master, 
of banishing him from his native place, is very often 
turned against him. Formerly, a noble could not, by 
any means, get rid of his serfs; and, whenever they were 
in want, he was forced to support and maintain them. At 
present, the moment a peasant becomes useless and bur- 
densome, it is easy to dismiss him; on account of which 
the serfs, in some parts of the provinces, would not ac- 
cept of the emancipation ofi"ercd, and bitterly lamented 
the freedom, as it was called, which was forced upon 
them. The serf often mournfully complains that he has 
lost a father and kept a master, and his lord now often 
refuses the little requests of his peasants, saying, ' You 
know you are not my children now.' " A similar state of 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 241 

feeling is likewise reported to exist among the serfs of 
Kussia Proper, wlio, in many cases, prefer the certainty 
of slavery to the risks of emancipation. Mr. Feather- 
stonhaugh, in his Travels in the Slave States of North 
America, relates that Mr. Madison, the ex-President, in- 
formed him that he had once assembled all his numer- 
ous slaves, and offered to manumit them immediately; 
^' but they instantly declined it, alleging that they had 
been born on his estate, had always been provided for by 
him with raiment and food, in sickness and in health, 
and, if they were made free, they would have no home to 
go to, and no friend to protect and care for them. They 
preferred, therefore, to live and die as his slaves, who had 
always been a kind master to them/^ 

Slavery excludes the principle of competition, which 
reduces the wages of the free laborer, increases his hours 
of work, and sometimes deprives him of all means of 
subsistence. The maintenance of slaves as one house- 
hold, or familia, likewise conduces to thrift ; their sup- 
ply on a large scale is, or ought to be, less expensive than 
when each laborer, as in a state of freedom, has a sepa- 
rate cottage and a family of his own. With slaves thus 
supported, there is no more waste than with horses or cat- 
tle. There is none of the loss or damage which arises 
from the drunkenness and improvidence of the free la- 
borer expending his own wages. Again, the slave-master 
can regulate the number of his workmen, and can in this 
manner control the amount of population. The means 
may doubtless be harsh and cruel, but they are effective 
for their end. In general, indeed, slave classes show a 
disposition to diminish rather than increase in number; 
11 



242 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

andj wliere the slave trade has not been prohibited, the 
number is kept up rather by new importation than by 
births. Hence the evils of an abundant population never 
manifested themselves while the mass of the people was 
in a servile and semi-servile state. Moreover, it can 
scarcely be doubted, that under certain circumstances in- 
dustry may be promoted, and the produce of the land 
increased, by the existence of a slave class. Mr. M'Cul- 
loch, indeed, thinks that the tropical countries can never 
be effectually cultivated by free labor. " Were the slaves 
completely emancipated in the United States, Cuba, and 
Brazil,^' says he, ''it is all but certain that the culture of 
sugar and cotton would be as completely abandoned in 
them as in Hayti. And if the change were accompanied 
by a considerable improvement in the condition of the 
black population, the sacrifice might not, perhaps, be 
deemed too great. But where is the ground for suppos- 
ing that such would be the case ? Indeed, the fair pre- 
sumption seems to be the other way. Little, at all events, 
would be gained by turning a laborious, well-fed slave, 
into an idle, improvident, and perhaps beggarly freeman.^' 
If we look merely to the present, and confine our views 
to economical results, Mr. M'Culloch's arguments cer- 
tainly appear strong. And although it is true that all 
hope of future improvement, in respect of his physical 
condition, is denied to the slave, yet it must be admitted, 
that practically, and looking to the actual generation, the 
absence of a power of rising in the world is no severe 
privation to a peasant class. Neither in England among 
the agricultural laborers, nor in the Continental States 
among the small proprietors, are there many instances of 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 243 

a person quitting the condition in wbicli he is born. Nor 
is any slavery so indellible (where the slaves have the 
same colored skin as their masters) as to prevent frequent 
emancipations of individual slaves from personal affection 
and other causes. The freedmen formed a numerous 
class among the Romans ; and it is known to what im- 
portant posts slaves have risen in the Turkish empire. 

After these remarks, (the intention of which cannot be 
misunderstood by any reader of this Journal,) wo can 
better estimate the effects of the change from slavery to 
personal freedom, upon the emancipated slave. He is re- 
lieved from the liabilities and burdens, but he at the same 
time forfeits the advantages of slavery. While the slave 
is exonerated from his legal obligations to his master, the 
master is exonerated from his legal and moral obligations 
towards his slave, and his interest in the conservation 
and protection of his slave is at an end. The slave (to 
use the common phrase) becomes his own master. With 
the acquisition of this power, he incurs the obligations of 
self-support. He becomes independent; and, being so, 
he must provide for his self-defence. Self-dominion is 
not an unmixed good to the work. It imports onerous 
duties. It implies the necessity of providing for a man's 
own wants, and those of his family. The freedman is no 
longer forced, by the fear of corporal punishment, to do 
a prescribed task of work. But ho must work in order 
to earn wages ; and, what is more, he must find work for 
himself. He is no longer incapable of acquiring prop- 
erty, or of reaping the fruits of his own industry. But 
he is, in consideration of this power, bound to provide 
for his own support. He is no longer incapable of con- 



244 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

tractiDg a lawful marriage, or begetting free legitimate 
children. But he is bound to maintain his wife and chil- 
dren by his own exertions; and if he deserts them, or 
allows them to starve, he is subject to legal punishment. 
He is no longer fed and maintained merely according to 
his physical wants, without reference to the value of his 
services ; but, on the other hand, he is delivered over to 
the unchecked operation of the principle of competition ; 
and he must content himself with the scanty pittance 
which the rivalry of the labor market may assign him. 
He is no longer treated as a mere animal or implement of 
production, without feeling, mind, or moral character ; he 
does not follow the religion of his master, and he may 
voluntarily choose his own creed. But, in becoming a 
free moral agent, he accepts the responsibilities of that 
condition ; his path is open to virtue, but he is answer- 
able for his acts and their consequences if he deviates 
into other ways ; he can, by foresight, determine his own 
lot, but he must, in compensation, suffer the penalties of 
his own improvidence. 

When we contemplate the actual results of the change 
in question, and compare the state of the working classes 
in countries where they are free, with the state of a slave 
class, we find that the only benefits of freedom, which 
have been fully enjoyed by the laboring classes, are the 
negative ones, (such as exemption from bodily inflictions, 
and other ill treatment;) but that the positive benefits 
which they have hitherto derived from the social inde- 
pendence, have been less prominent. The positive bene- 
fits — ^hich are economical and domestic — which consist 
in the acquisition, enjoyment and transmission of wealth, 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 245 

and in the development of tlie family affections^ — are 
more remote, and depend on numerous preliminary condi- 
tions which hitherto have rarely co-existed in any com- 
munity. The entire harvest of the change will not be 
reaped until civilization has made further progress — until 
the providence, industry, intelligence, and peaceableness 
of the working man are such as to render him altogether 
fit for self-support, and to protect society against the 
shocks arising from his delusions and violence. 

But, in proportion as the positive advantages are dis- 
tant, the disadvantages of the change make themselves 
sensibly felt. As soon as slavery has ceased to exist, the 
freedom of action for the working classes is complete ; 
they are masters of their own conduct, and their conduct 
determines the condition of the great mass of the com- 
munity. If, then, their moral state is low, and they are 
exempt from all legal compulsion, they are likely to 
make a bad use of their liberty. Whenever the moral 
restraints are weak, and the rights of the freeman are 
exercised without limitation, and with an inward con- 
sciousness of power, political or social dangers cannot be 
far off. A slave-class, emancipated at once, affords the 
strongest example of the evils arising under this influ- 
ence. Their moral condition is, at the best, like that of 
children ; they have had no experience of self-manage- 
ment; and the rights of freedom are, from their novelty, 
prized most highly. Some countries, however, from 
which slaver}^ has long been banished, exhibit a nearly 
similar state of things. Thus, in Ireland, the freedom of 
the working classes has produced the smallest amount of 
positive advantages, combined with the largest amount of 



246 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

disadvantages. The peasantry are in the lowest physical 
deo-nidation ; they derive the smallest possible quantum 
of happiness from their power of disposing of themselves 
and their families, and of acquiring property; while 
their rights of citizenship are too frequently perverted to 
purposes detrimental to themselves, and dangerous to the 
public peace. 

When the slavery of the working classes had been 
gradually extinguished in Western Europe, it began to 
be seen that the theory of personal freedom could not be 
carried consistently into practical effect for the entire 
community. A man might, in the eye of the law, be 
presumed able and bound to maintain himself and his 
family : but want of industry, or intelligence, or provi- 
dence, or the rapine of the strong, might reduce him to 
destitution and helplessness. Accordingly, unless many 
of the laboring class were to be permitted to die of hun- 
ger and neglect, it was necessary to find some means of 
alleviatino; their sufferino;s. 

In further reply to the Edinburgh Reviewer, and 
to illustrate by examples our theory of " Cannibals 
All; or, Slaves without Masters," read the follow- 
ing from the North British Review for November, 
1855, on the Rural Population of England: 



Have we not come upon a very paradise of rural seclu- 
sion ? Is it not a spot to be chosen by those who are in- 
tending to while away existence among the never tiring 
sweets of a country life ? But let us step on a little way, 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 247 

and overtake the group of children that is just now cross- 
ing the common. Ahis ! yet should we not refrain from 
expressing the sad feelings which the first sight of these 
infant shadows has awakened ? feelings heightened by 
contrast ; for lately we were making our way through a 
fourth class street, where the prime necessities of life are 
amply provided for. Besides, if we look a second time 
at these shrunken forms — such is the beneficence of the 
Creator — we see that childhood will have its smiles, its 
laughs, its gambols, under conditions even the most for- 
lorn. Moreover, there is, notwithstanding that famished, 
watery look — there is, taking the group altogether — there 
is an air of pure rusticity — there is an innocence, com- 
paratively, and a modest propriety — there is a respectful- 
ness in their style and deportment which is greatly in 
their favor when thought of in comparison with the bold, 
unreverential sauciness of the infant Hercules of manu- 
facturiuo; towns. 

But look at these unfortunates — the infant serfs of a 
neglected rural district ! Look at them physiologically 
— observe their lank, colorless hair, screening the sunken 
eye, and trailing upon the bony neck ; look at the hollow 
cheeks, the candle-like arms, and the unmuscular shanks 
which serve the young urchins for legs ! But are not 
these children breathing a pure atmosphere ? Are they 
not Nature's own ? Yes ; but there is one thino: wantinsr 

/ CO 

to them — one ominous word clears up the mystery. 
Starvation ! Not, indeed, such starvation as brings the 
sorrows of a sad lot to a speedy end ; but such as drags 
its pining sufferings out, through the overshadowed years 
of childhood and youth ; through those spasmodic years 



248 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

of manhood durinof wlueli the struggle to exist wears an 
aspect of rugged rigor; and then through that residue of 
early decrepitude, haggard, bent, idiot-Hke, which is in- 
deed an unblessed end of an unblessed existence. This 
rural population does pretty well if the father be able- 
bodied and sober, and the mother managing, through the 
summer season, of wheat-hoeing, hay-making, and wheat 
harvest ; that is to say, when the labor of the mother and 
her children comes in to swell a little the weekly wages. 
Durino; these weeks soraethins; of needed clothino; is ob- 
tained, rent is paid up, and a pittance of animal food, 
weekly, is added to the bread, and the tea, and the po- 
tato of the seven months' diet. 

It would be doing a wrong to our worthy farmer 
friends, and to the rural sporting gentry, to afi&rm that 
these miserables are actually dying of want. No, they 
are not dying, so as inquests must be held before they 
may be buried — would to God they were — they are the 
living — they are living to show what extremities men, 
women and children may endure, and yet not die ; or 
what they hold to be worse, not to betake themselves to 
'' the union ! '' But how do these same men, women and 
children pass five months of the year? Gladly would 
one find them curled round like hedgehogs, and hyber- 
nating in hollow trees; in rabbit burrows, lost to con- 
sciousness. We should, indeed, count it a miracle if, on 
a May morning, we were to see a group of human beings 
start up alive from the sward, along with the paiglus and 
the cowslips. But it is much lens than a miracle to see 
the people of a depressed rural district stepping alive out 
of the winter months I '^' * * 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 249 

The instances arc extremely rare in which those who 
were born to the soil, and destined to the plow, rise above 
their native level. Such instances — two, three, or five — 
might be hunted up, if an agricultural county were ran- 
sacked for the purpose ; but the agricultural laborer, 
even if he had the brain and the ambition requisite, and 
if otherwise he could effect it, would seldom bring with 
him that which the social mass, into which he might rise, 
especially needs, namely, a fully developed and robust 
body. Meantime, what is it that is taking place in hun- 
dreds of instances, and every day, throughout the entire 
area of the manufacturing region ? Men, well put to- 
gether, and with plenty of bone, and nerve, and brain, 
using with an intense ardor those opportunities of ad- 
vancement which abound in these spheres of enterprise 
and of prosperous achievement — such men are found to 
be making themselves heard of among their betters, are 
seen well-dressed before they reconcile themselves to the 
wearing of gloves; by rapid advances they are winning 
for themselves a place in society — a place which, indeed, 
they well deserve ; and there they are doing what they 
had not thought of — they are regenerating the mass with- 
in which they have been received. 

We extract the following from an article in the 
Edinburgh Review^ on Juvenile and Female Labor, 
in its January No., 1844. It is of the highest au- 
thority, being part of a report of commissioners 
appointed by Parliament, and stands endorsed as 
well by the action of Parliament as by the author- 
ity of the Reviewer : 



250 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

Our limits will not allow us to go through all the em- 
ployments reported upon in these volumes; but, as speci- 
mens, we will give a short account of the condition of 
the people engaged in Coal mines, Calico-printing, Metal 
wares, Lace-making, and Millinery. 

Coal Mines. — The number of children and young per- 
sons employed in these mines is enormous ; and they ap- 
pear to commence working, even underground, at an 
earlier age than is recorded of any other occupation ex- 
cept lace-making. The Commissioners report — 

^'That instances occur in which children are taken into 
these mines to work as early as four years of age, some- 
times at five, not unfrequently between six and seven, 
and often from seven to eight, while from eight to nine is 
the ordinary age at which their employment commences. 
That a very la^-ge proportion of the persons 
employed in these mines is under thirteen years of age; 
and a still larger proportion between thirteen and eigh- 
teen. That in several districts female children begin to 
work in the mines as early as males. 

" That the nature of the employment which is assigned 
to the youngest children, generally that of trapping/ re- 
quires that they should be in the pit as soon as the work 
of the day commences, and, according to the present sys- 
tem, that they should not leave the pit before the work 
of the day is at an end. 

" That although this employment scarcely deserves the 
name of labor, yet, as the children engaged in it are 
commonly excluded from light, and are always without 
companions, it would, were it not for the passing and re- 
passing of the coal carriages, amount to solitary confine- 
ment of the worst order. 

^' That in some districts they remain in solitude and 
darkness during the whole time they are in the pit, and, 
according to their own account, many of them never see 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 251 

tbe light of day for weeks together during the greater 
part of the winter season, excepting on those days in the 
week when work is not going on, and on the Sundays. 

"That at different ages, from six years old and up- 
wards, the hard work of pushing and dragging the car- 
riages of coal from the workings to the main ways or to 
the foot of the shaft, begins : a labor which all classes of 
witnesses concur in stating, requires the unremitting ex- 
ertion of all the physical power which the young workers 
possess. 

"That, in the districts in which females are taken 
down into the coal mines, both sexes are employed to- 
gether in precisely the same kind of labor, and work for 
the same number of hours ; that the girls and boys, and 
the young men and the young women, and even married 
women and women with child, commonly work almost 
naked, and the men, in many mines, quite naked ; and 
that all classes of witnesses bear testimony to the demor- 
alizing influence of the employment of females under- 
ground.* 

"That, in the east of Scotland, a much larger propor- 
tion of children and young persons are employed in these 
mines than in other districts, many of whom are girls; 
and that the chief part of their labor consists in carrying 
the coals on their backs up steep ladders. 

" That when the work-people are in full employment, 
the regular hours of work for children and young per-ons 
are rarely less than eleven; more often they are twelve ; 
in some districts they are thirteen 2 and in one district 
they are ^cxiQrdWj fourteen and upwards. 

" That in the great majority of these mines night- work 
is a part of the ordinary system of labor, more or less 
regularly carried on according to the demand for coals, 



*It is, however, but fair to state, that many competent and 
most respectable observers declare, that though the facts stated 
by the Commissioners may be perfectly true, yet that the tone 
and spirit of the Report bears token of material exaggeration. 



252 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

and one which the whole body of eYidence shows to act 
most injuriously both on the physical and moral condi- 
tion of the work-people, and more especially on that of 
the children and young persons. 

" That in many cases the children and young persons 
have little cause of complaint in regard to the treatment 
they receive, while in many mines the conduct of the 
adult colliers to them is harsh and cruel ; the persons in 
authority who must be cognizant of this ill usage never 
interfering to prevent it, and some of them distinctly sta- 
ting that they do not conceive they have a right to do so. 
That with some exceptions little interest is taken by the 
coal-owners in the children employed in their works after 
the daily labor is over. . . . That in all the coal- 
fields accidents of a fearful nature are extremely frequent, 
and of the work-people who perish by such accidents, the 
proportion of children and young persons sometimes equals, 
and rarely i\ills much below that of adults.'' — (First Ke- 
port; p. 255-7.) 

With respect to the general healthiness of the employ- 
ment, there is considerable discrepancy in the evidence 
adduced ; many witnesses stating that the colliers gener- 
ally, especially the adults, arc a remarkably healthy race, 
showing a very small average of sickness,* and recover- 
inn- with unusual rapidity from the severest accidents ; — 
a peculiarity which the medical men reasonably enough 
attribute to the uniform temperature of the mines, and 
still more to the abundance of nutritious food which the 
hio-h wages of the work-people enable them to procure. 
The great majority of the witnesses, however, give a very 
different impression. Upwards of two hundred, whose 
testimony is quoted, or referred to in the Report of the 



*The colliers in the east of Scotland, liowever, are excepted. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 253 

Central Commissioners, testify to the extreme fatigue of 
the cbiklreu when they return home at night, and to the 
injurious effect which this ultimately produces on their 
constitution. 

While the effect of such early and severe labor is, to 
cause a peculiar and extraordinary degree of muscular 
development in collier children, it also stunts their 
growth, and produces a proportionate diminution of stat- 
ure, as is shown by the following comparison. — (Physical 
and Moral Condition of Cbildren, p. 55.) 

10 Farmers' boys, between 12 

and 11 years, measured, 

each, - - - 56.4 inches in height. 

10 Colliers' boys, - - 53.1 



i'. u 



Difference, - 3. '' " 

10 Farmers' girls, between 11 

and 17 years, measured, 

each, - - - 60.5 inches in height. 

10 Colliers' girls, - - 55.6 " " 

Difference, 

51 Farmers' children, 10 years 

old, measured, each, 
60 Colliers' children, 



Difference, 

49 Farmers' children, 152 years 

old, measured, each, 

50 Colliers' children, 

Difference, - 6. 



4.9 


a 


u 


51. 


a 


a 


48. 




a 


3. 


(C 


59. 


a 


a 


53. 


u 


a 



u * 



^It is cmnous to contrast this with a similar comparisDn insti- 
tuted by the Factory Commissioners, aiul embracing upwards 



254 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

Labor in coal mines is also stated, by a great number 
of most respectable Avitnesses, to produce a crippled gait, 
and a curvature of the spinal column, as well as a vari- 
ety of disorders — among which may be enumerated, af- 
fections of the heart, rupture, asthma, rheumatism, and 
loss of appetite ; — and this not merely in a few cases, but 
as an habitual, and almost inevitable result of their 
occupation. 

^^Of the effect of employment in the coal mines of the 
East of Scotland in producing an early and irreparable 
deterioration of the physical condition, the Sub-commis- 
sioner thus reports : — ' In a state of society, such as has 
been described, the condition of the children may be 
easily imagined, and its baneful influence on the health 
cannot well be exaggerated; and I am informed by very 
competent authorities, that six months' labor in the mines 
is sufficient to effect a very visible change in the physical 
condition of the children : and indeed it is scarcely pos- 
sible to conceive of circumstances more calculated to sow 
the seeds of future disease, and, to borrow the language 
of the instructions, to prevent the organs from being de- 
veloped, to enfeeble and disorder their functions, and to 
subject the whole system to injury, which cannot be re- 



of 1000 children. — (Analysis of the Evidence taken before the 
Factory Commissioners, p. 9.) 

Boys not in factories averaged 55.56 inches. 
Boys in factories, " 55.28 " 



Difference, .28 ! 

Girls not in factories, '* 54.979 «' 

Girls in factories, " 54.951 " 

Difference, .028!!'' 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 255 

paired at any subsequent stn^e of life.' — (Frank's Re- 
port, s. 68 : App. Pt. I, p. 396.) In the West of Scot- 
land, Dr. Thomson, Ayr, says: — 'A collier at fifty gen- 
erally has the appearance of a man ten years older than 
he is.'"— (Evidence, No. 34; App. Pt. I, p. 371,1. 
58.) 

If we turn to the testimony as to the moral, intellec- 
tual, and spiritual state of the great mass of the collier 
population, the picture is even darker and more appalling 
than that which has been drawn of their physical condi- 
tion. The means of instruction to which they have ac- 
cess are scanty in the extreme ', — their readiness to avail 
themselves of such means, if possible still scantier ; and 
the real results of the instruction they do obtain, scan- 
tiest of all — as the following extracts will show : — 

^' As an example of the mental culture of the collier 
children in the neighborhood of Halifax, the Sub-com- 
missioner states, that an examination of 219 children and 
young persons at the bottom of one of the coal-pits, he 
found only 31 that could read an easy book, not more 
than 15 that could write their names, these latter having 
received instruction at some day-school before they com- 
menced colliery labor, and that the whole of the remain- 
ing number were incapable of connecting two syllables 
together." — (Scriven, Pteport, Mines : App. Pt. II, 73, 
s. 91.) 

" Of tlie state of education in the coalfields of Lan- 
cashire, the Sub-commissioner gives the following ac- 
count: — 'It was ray intention to have laid before the 
Central Board evidence of the eifects of education, as 
shown by the comparative value of educated and unedu- 
cated colliers and children employed in coal mines, as 
workmen, and to have traced its effects, as shown by the 
superior moral habits and generally more exalted condi- 



256 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

tion of those who had received the benefits of education 
over those who had not, which I had observed and proved 
to exist in other branches of industry. I found, how- 
ever that the case was hopeless ; there wore so few, either 
of colliers or their children, who had even received the 
first rudiments of education, that it was impossible to in- 
stitute a comparison.' — (Kennedy, Report, Mines : App. 
Pt. II, p. 183, s. 268.) 

'' In the coalfields of North Lancashire examined by 
Mr. Austin, it is stated that the education of the work- 
ing-people has been almost wholly neglected ; that they 
have received scarcely any instruction at all, either reli- 
gious or secular ; that they cannot therefore be supposed 
to have any correct conception of their moral duties, and 
that in fact their intellects are as little enlightened as 
their places of work — 'darkness reigns throughout.' — 
(Report, Mines : App. Pt. II, p. 805, s. 2G._) 

" In the East of Scotland a marked inferiority in the 
collier children to those of the town and manufacturing 
population. Upwards of 100 heads of collier families, 
most of whom leave their children to themselves — to ig- 
norance and irreligion." — (Ihi'd. p. 426, 1. 42.) 'Many 
of the children are not educated at all.'" — (^Ihid. p. 428' 
1. 30.) 

It appears that, in the principal mining districts, few 
of the colliers attend any place of worship; and of their 
entire ignorance of the most elementary truths, either of 
secular or religious knowledge, the following extracts will 
give some idea : — 

" Yorkshire. — ' "With respect even to the common 
truths of Christianity and facts of Scripture,' says Mr. 
Symons, ' I am confident that a majority are in a state of 
heathen ignorance. I unhesitatingly affirm that the mi- 
ning children, as a body, are growing up in a state of 
absolute and appalling ignorance j and I am sure that the 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 257 

evidence I herewith transmit, alike from all classes — cler- 
gymen, magistrates, masters, men, and children — will 
fully substantiate and justify the strength of the expres- 
sions which I have alone felt to be adequate to charac- 
terize the mental condition of this benighted community.' 

"■ 'Throuo-hout the whole district of the coal-field,' says 
Mr. Scriven, 'the youthful population is in a state of pro- 
faneness, and almost of mental imbecility/ 

'''The i<i^norance and the deirraded state of the colliers 
and their children,' says Mr. Kennedy, 'are proverbial 
throughout this district. They are uneducated, ignorant, 
and brutal; deteriorated as workmen and dangerous as 
subjects.' " 

Eut nothing can show their mental state in so striking 
a manner, as the evidence derived from the examination 
of the children themselves^ by the Sub-commissioner : — 

" ' A girl eighteen years old — I never learnt nought. 
I never go tp church or chapel. I have never heard that 
a good man came into the world, who was God's Son, to 
save sinners. I never heard of Christ at all. Nobody 
has ever told me about him, nor have my father and mo- 
ther ever taught me to pray. I know no prayer : I never 
pray. I have been taught nothing about such things.' — 
(Evidence, Mines, p. 252, 11, o5, 39.) 'The Lord sent 
Adam and Eve on earth to save sinners.' — (Ihi'd. p. 245, 
1. 66.) 'I don't know who made the world; I never 
heard about GcocV—^Ihid. p. 228, 1. 17.) ' Jesus Christ 
was a shepherd; he came a hundred years ago to receive 
sin. I don't know who the Apostles were.' — (^Ihuh p. 
232, 1. 11.) 'Jesus Christ was born in heaven, but I 
don't know what happened to him; he came on earth to 
commit sin. Yes; to commit sin. Scotland is a coun- 
try, but I don't know where it is. I never heard of 
France.' — {Hid. p. 265, 1. 17.) ' I don't know who Je- 
sus Christ was ; I never saw him, but I've seen Foster, 
who prays about him.' — (Ibid. p. 291, 1. 63.) 'I have 



258 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

been three years at a Sunday-seliool. I don't know wlio 
the Apostles were. Jesus Christ died for his son to be 
saved/ — (Hid. 245, 1. 10.) Employer (to the Commis- 
sioner,) 'You have expressed surprise at Thomas Mitch- 
ell (the preceding witness) not having heard of God. I 
judge there are few colliers hereabouts that have.''' — 
(Second lieport, p. 156.) 

The moral state of the collier population is represented 
by the Sub-commissioners as deplorable in the extreme : — 

'' Lancashire. — 'All that I have seen myself/ says 
the Sub-commissioner, 'tends to the same conclusion as 
the preceding evidence; namely, that the moral condition 
of the colliers and their children in this district, is deci- 
dedly amongst the lowest of any portion of the working- 
classes.' — Ihid. Report, s. 27S, et seq.) 

" Durham and Northumberland. — The religious 
and moral condition of the children, and more particu- 
larly of the young persons employed in the collieries of 
North Durham and Northumberland, is stated by clergy- 
men and others, witnesses, to be 'deplorable.' 'Their 
morals,' they say, 'are bad, their education worse, their 
intellect very much debased, and their carelessness, irre- 
ligion, and immorality' exceeding any thing to be found 
in an agricultural district." — (Leifchild, Report, Mines: 
Evidence, Nos. 795, 530, 500, 498, 668.) 

Calico-Printing. — This employs a vast number of chil- 
dren of both sexes, who have to mix and grind the colors 
for the adult work-people, and are commonly called teer- 
ers. They begin to work, according to the Report, some- 
times before five years of age, often between five and six, 
and generally before nine. The usual hours of labor are 
twelve, including meal-time ; but as the children gener- 
ally work the same time as the adults, " it is by no means 



SLAVES WITHOUT PIASTERS. 259 

uncommon in all the districts for children of five or six 
gear's old to he kept at icork fourteen and even sixteen 
liours consecutivelj/." — (Second Report, p. 59.) In many 
instances, however, it will be seen that even these hours 
are shamefully exceeded, during a press of work. 

" 352. Thomas Sidbread, block-printer, after takinp: a 
child who had already been at work all day to assist him 
as a teerer through the night, says — ' We began to work 
between eight and nine o'clock on the Wednesday night; 
but the boy had been sweeping the shop from Wednesday 
morning. You will scarcely believe it, but it is true — I 
never left the shop till six o'clock on the Saturday morn- 
ing ; and I had never stopped working all that time, ex- 
cepting for an hour or two, and that boy with me all the 
time. I was knocked up, and the boy was almost in- 
sensible.^ 

^'353. Henry Richardson, block-printer, states — ^At 
four o'clock I began to work, and worked all that day, all 
the next night, and until ten the following day. I had 
only one teerer during that time, and I dare say he would 
be about twelve years old. I had to shout to him to- 
wards the second night, as he got sleepy. I had one of 
my own children, about ten years old, who was a teerer. 
He worked with me at Messrs. Wilson & Crichton's, at 
Blakely. AYe began to work together about two or three 
in the morning, and left oif at four or five in the after- 
noon.' 

Night-work, too, with all its evil consequences, is very 
common in this trade; — and of the general state of edu- 
cation among the block-pi-inters in Lancashire, the Com- 
missioners thus speak, (p. 172.) 

" The evidence collected by Mr. Kennedy in the Lan- 
cashire district, tends to show that the children employed 
in this occupation are excluded from the opportunities of 



260 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

education; that this necessarily contributes to the growth 
of an ignorant and vicious population ; that the facility of 
obtainiog early employment for children in print-fields 
empties the day-schools ; that parents without hesitation 
sacrifice the future welfare of their children through life 
for the immediate advantage or gratification obtained by 
the additional pittance derived from the child's earnings, 
and that they imagine, or pretend, that they do not neg- 
lect their children's education if they send them to Sun- 
day-schools.'^ 

Metal Wares. — The chief seats of manufactures in 
metal are Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and Sheffield; 
but many of the minor branches are carried on in differ- 
ent parts of Scotland, and in Worcestershire and Lan- 
cashire. In the various departments of this species of 
manufacture many thousands of children of both sexes 
are employed. They begin to work generally about their 
eighth year, as in Birmingham and Sheffield, but often 
earlier; while in inn-mahing, as carried on at Warring- 
ton, both boys and girls commence when Jive years old, 
and work twelve hours a-day, and sometimes, though rare- 
ly, even more. The hours of work in most of the metal 
manufactures are very irregular, generally from ten to 
thirteen a-day ; but, especially in the neighborhood of 
Wolverhampton, it is by no means unfrequent to extend 
them to fifteen or sixteen for weeks together. The places 
in which the occupations are carried on are occasionally 
large, clean, and well ventilated; but in the great major- 
ity of cases, a very different description of them is given. 

" In general the buildings are very old, and many of 
them are in a dilapidated, ruinous, and even dangerous 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTEBS. 261 

condition. Nothing is more common than to find many 
of the windows broken ; in some cases I observed more 
broken than whole panes ; great and just complaint is 
made upon this point by those employed. The shops are 
often dark and narrow ; many of them, especially those 
used for stamping, are from four to seven feet below the 
level of the ground ; these latter, which are cold and 
damp, are justly complained of by the workers. From 
defective construction all these old shops are liable to be- 
come ' sufficatlngly hot in summer (and also at night 
when the gas is lighted) and very cold in winter. Effi- 
cient ventillation is a thing unknown in these places. 
The great majority of the shops are never whitewashed, 
but there are many creditable exceptions to this statement.' 
" It has been already stated, that although the whole 
population of the town of Wolverhampton and the neigh- 
borhood, of all ranks, are engaged in the different manu- 
factures of the place, yet that there are few manufacto- 
ries of large size, the work being commonly carried on in 
small workshops. These workshops are usually situated 
at the backs of the houses, there being very few in the 
front of a street ; so that the places where the children 
and the great body of the operatives are employed are 
completely out of sight, in narrow courts, unpaved yards, 
and blind alleys. In the smaller and dirtier streets of 
the town, in which the poorest of the working classes re- 
side, ' there are narrow passages, at intervals of every 
eight or ten houses, and sometimes at every third or fourth 
house. These narrov/ passages are also the general gut- 
ter, which is by no means always confined to one side, but 
often streaming all over the passage. Having made your 
way through the passage, you find yourself in a space 
varying in size with the number of houses, hutches, or 
hovels it contains. They are nearly all proportionately 
crowded. Out of this space there are other narrow pas- 
sages, sometimes leading to other similar hovels. The 
workshops and houses are mostly built on a little elevation 
sloping towards the passage.' '' — (Second Pteport^ p. 33.) 



262 CANNIBALS ALL ; OR, 

The most painful portions, however, of the Report on 
the metal manufactures, are those which relate to the 
treatment of the children and apprentices at Willenhall, 
near Wolverhampton, and to the noxious influences of 
those departments which are carried on at Sheffield. — (P. 
83.) 

^^455. The district whicli requires special notice on 
account of the general and almost incredible abuse of the 
children, is that of Wolverhampton and the neighborhood. 
In the town of Wolverhampton itself, among the large 
masters children are not punished with severity, and in 
some of the trades, as among the japanners, they are not 
beaten at all; but, on the other hand, in the nail and tip 
manufactories, in some of the founderies, and among the 
very numerous class of small masters generally, the pun- 
ishments are harsh and cruel } and in some cases they can 
only be designated as ferocious. 

"456. In Willenhall the children are shamefully and 
most cruelly beaten with a horsewhip, strap, stick, ham- 
mer handle, file, or whatever tool is nearest at hand, or 
are struck with the clenched fist or kicked. 

"457. In Sedgley they are sometimes struck with a 
red-hot iron, and burnt and bruised simultaneously; 
sometimes they have 'a flash of lightning' sent at them. 
' When a bar of iron is drawn white-hot from the forge it 
emits fiery particles, which the man commonly flings in a 
shower upon the ground by a swing of his arm before 
placing the bar upon the anvil. This shower is some- 
times directed at the boy. It may come over his hands 
and face, his naked arms, or on his breast. If his shirt 
be open in front, which is usually the case, the red-hot 
particles are lodged therein, and he has to shake them 
out as fast as he can.' . . . ' His master's name is 

• , of Little London. There is another apprentice 

besides him, who is treated just as bad.' , aged 

fifteen, ' works at Knoblocks with . Is a fellow- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 263 

apprentice with . Lives in the house of his mas- 
ter. Is beaten by his master, who hits him sometimes 
with his fif-ts, and sometimes with the file liaft, and some- 
times with a stick — it's no matter what when he's a bit 
cross; sometimes hits him with the locks; has cut his 
head open four or five times ; so he has his fellow-appren- 
tice's head/ 

"466. The Rev. Isaac Clarkson, magistrate, vicar of 
Wednesbury : 'In his capacity of magistrate complaints 
often come before him, made by boys against masters, 
from difi'erent places round about, such as Willenhall and 
Darlaston, but he did not encourage them, as they should 
more properly apply to the magistrates of Wolverhamp- 
ton. More complaints came before him from the mines 
than from the manufactories; but sometimes there was 
very bad usage in the latter. A boy from Darkiston has 
recently been beaten most unmercifully with a rod-hot 
piece of iron. The boy was burnt — fairly burnt. Wished 
to cancel the indentures; but the master had been to the 
board of guardians, or to the clerk of the Staff"ord union, 
and promised to behave better in future. Has had vari- 
ous similar cases brought before him.' '^ 

The following statements of the Commissioners de- 
mand serious consideration. — (Second Report, p. 105.) 

^' 581. But the chief disease is that produced by the 
occupation of the grinder, which is the most pernicious 
of any branch of manufacture in England. The inhala- 
tion of the dust of the grindstone and of the steel of the 
knife, or whatever he may be grinding, is so pernicious, 
that the life of a dry grinder scarcely averages thirty-five 
yccirs, whilst that of a wet grinder is seldom prolonged to 
more than forty-five years. The bent posture and pres- 
sure on the stomach ag-ojravate the evil. Fork-2:rinding is 
the most pernicious, because it is done dry, and a great 
deal more of the steel has to be ground off. Dr. Knight 
states that he cannot better express how injurious grind- 



264 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

ing is to the health than by stating, that '■ they who^ are 
the greatest drinkers among the grinders are sometimes 
the longest lived, owing to their more frequent absence 
from their work/ 

^' 582. Dust flues, in the state of perfection to which 
they have now been brought, appear to be capable of 
greatly diminishing if not of entirely obviating the evil. 
The Sheffield grinders cannot, however, be induced to 
avail themselves of this security ; they know that they 
are doomed to an early death, yet they are absolutely un- 
willing that the evil to which they are exposed should in 
any degree be lessened ; they regard every precaution to 
prolong life with jealousy, as a means of increasing the 
supply of labor and lowering wages ; they are for ' a short 
life and a merry one,' and hence, even when the masters 
are at the expense of erecting the apparatus, these men 
refuse to use it, and even frequently kick it down and 
break it under their feet."' — (Ibid. Evidence.) 

As to the moral state of this class of work-people, the 
Eeport speaks thus. — (Second lleport, p. 176-178.) 

"933. The moral and religious state of the children 
and young persons employed in the trades and manufac- 
tures of Birmingham, is described by the Sub-commis- 
sioner as very unfavorable. The social and domestic du- 
ties and affections are but little cultivated and practiced ; 
great numbers never attend any place of religious worship ; 
and of the state of juvenile crime some conception may 
be formed from the statement, that of the total number 
of known or suspected offenders in this town, during the 
last twelve months, namely 1223, at least one-half were 
under fifteen years of age. 

"934. As to illicit sexual intercourse, it seems to pre- 
vail almost universally, and from a very early period of 
life : to this conclusion witnesses of every rank give tes- 
timony. 

"936. Wolverhampton. — Of the moral condition of 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 265 

the youthful population in the Wolverhampton district, 
Mr. Horne says — 'Putting together all I elicited from 
various witnesses and conversations with working people, 
abroad and at home, and all that fell under my observa- 
tion, I am obliged to come to the conclusion, that the 
moral virtues of the great majority of the children are as 
few in number and as feeble in practice as can well be 
conceived of those who are born in a civilized country, 
surrounded by religious and educational institutions, and 
by individuals anxious for the improvement of the condi- 
tion of the working classes.' He adds of Willenhall— 
^ A lower condition of morals, in the fullest sense of the 
term, could not, I think, be found. I do not mean by 
this that there are many more prominent vices among 
them, but that moral feelings and sentiments do not exist 
among them. They have no morals.' 

''piO. Sheffield.— In all the Sheffield trades em- 
ploying large numbers of children, it is stated that there 
is a much closer intermixture of the younger children 
with the elder youths, and with the men, than is usual in 
the cotton, woollen, and flax factories ; and that the con- 
versations to which the children are compelled to listen, 
would debase their minds and blunt their moral feelings 
even if they had been carefully and virtuously educated, 
but that of course this result takes place more rapidly and 
completely in the case of those who have had little or no 
religious culture, and little but bad example before their 
eyes from their cradle upwards. 

'' 943. Habits of drinking are formed at a very early 
age, malt liquor being generally introduced into the work- 
shops, of which the youngest "children are encouraged to 
partake. ' Very many,' say the police officers, ' frequent 
beer-shops, where they play at dominoes, bagatelle, &c., 
for money or drink.' Early intemperance is assigned by 
the medical men as one cause of the great mortality of 
Sheffield. ' There are beer-houses,' says the Rev. Mr. 
Farish, ' attended by youths exclusively, for the men will 
not have them in the same houses with themselves. In 

12 



266 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

these beer-houses the youth of both sexes are encouraged 
to meet, and scenes destructive of every vestige of virtue 
or morality ensue/ 

^' 945. But it is stated by all classes of v^itnesses, that 
' the most revolting feature of juvenile depravity in this 
town is early contamination from the association of the 
sexes;' that 'juvenile prostitution is exceedingly com- 
mon/ ' The evidence/ says the Sub-commissioner, ' might 
have been doubled which attests the early commencement 
of sexual and promiscuous intercourse among boys and 
girls/ 

^'953. Sedgley. — At Sedgley and the neighboring 
villages, the number of girls employed in nail-making 
considerably exceeds that of the boys. Of these girls 
Mr. Home reports — ' Their appearance, manners, habits, 
and moral natures, (so far as the word moral can be ap- 
plied to them,) are in accordance with their half-civilized 
condition. Constantly associating with ignorant and de- 
praved adults and young persons of the opposite sex, they 
naturally fall into all their ways; and drink, smoke, 
swear, throw off all restraint in word and act, and become 
as bad as a man. The heat of the forge and the hardness 
of the work render few clothes needful in winter ; and in 
summer, the six or seven individuals who are crowded 
into these little dens find the heat almost suffocating. The 
men and boys are usually naked, except a pair of trousers 
and an open shirt, though very often they have no shirt ; 
and the women and girls have only a thin, ragged petti- 
coat, and an open shirt without sleeves.^ ^' 

Lace-Mahing . — In this occupation it is proved, by un- 
questionable evidence, that it is customari/ for children to 
begin to work at the age of four, five, and six years ; and 
instances were found in which a child only two years old 
was set to work by the side of its mother. The work is 
of course very slight, but is trying to the eyes. The 
Sub-commissioner, after detailing a case, says — 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 267 

^^58. In this case, if the statement of the mother be 
correct, one of her children, four years of age, works 
twelve hours a-day with only an interval of a quarter of 
an hour for each meal, at breakfast, dinner, and tea, and 
never going out to play : and two more of her children, 
one six and the other eight, years of age, work in summer 
from 6 a. m. till dusk, and in winter from seven in the 
morning till ten at night, fifteen hours. 

''59. This family is singular only in the children be- 
ing set to work at the ages of two or three. It is com- 
mon in this district for children to commence work at four, 
five, and six ; the evidence renders this fact indubitable." 
— (Second Kcport, p. 10.) 

The following extracts relate to the hours of work in 
the lace trade : — 

" 336. In the Nottingham, Leicester, and Derby dis- 
tricts, partly from the causes just assigned, and partly 
from the dissipated habits of the workmen, ' the hours 
of labor are so extremely irregular that it is impossible to 
speak of them with exact precision.^ The hand-machines, 
especially the wide machines, are usually double-handed ; 
some very large ones have three men each ; the men work 
such machines by ' spells for shifts.' The most common 
time is sixteen, eighteen, and occasionally twenty hours. 
' However long,' adds the Sub-commissioner, ' may be the 
hours during which the machines are propelled, even for 
the whole twenty -four, either by hand or power, there are 
scarcely ever two complete sets of threaders.' 

''34-1. Mr. William Hinde, aged twenty-nine, opera- 
tive — 'Among the small masters, who have each one or 
two machines, it is the custom for one set of children to 
work for two or three masters. The masters often live a 
long way from each other j children have often to go one 
or two miles. They are always wanted when the machine 
comes ofi", whatever may be the hour of the day or night; 
they are required just as much by night as by day, unless 



268 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

the men will accommodate the children, which is very 
rarely done, especially when trade is good. When there 
has been a good pattern, and the machine in constant use, 
the children " have scarcely a bit of peace," they have no 
regular time for meals, " no time for nothing ; '' when one 
machine is off, another is on. Was himself formerly a 
threader, and then a winder. Has often gone at six in 
the morning, and has had no time to get any thing to eat, 
except a mouthful now and then, till three or four in the 
afternoon. It is the same now, when trade is good. The 
children have no regular time for meals; they have their 
food sent to them, and they eat when they can ; some 
have nothing but a bit of bread. There is no more regu- 
lar time for sleeping than for eating ; the children often 
lie down '^in the middle of the shop floor, when it is 
warm." Thinks hundreds have been sent to the grave 
by this work. It is enough to kill the Children, going 
half fed and clothed to work in the night, at this time of 
the year. (The thermometer last night was 102.') — (Sec- 
ond Report, pp. 56-9.) 

Of course, work of this nature, for such hours, and at 
such an early age, cannot but be followed by deplorable 
consequences to health in after life, as well as to moral 
character. Accordingly the Commissioners report. — (II, 
p. 109, 110, 181.) 

" 598. From the nature of their occupation, the long 
and irregular hours of work, the frequency of night-work, 
and the insufficient time allowed for meals — an evil of the 
greatest magnitude in the case of growing children — the 
constitution is frequently seriously impaired. ' The ma- 
jority of the children whom I saw,' says the Sub-commis- 
sioner, 'were pale and unhealthy-looking, and several 
were of diminutive stature. The health and sight are 
often greatly impaired, especially among the runners, who 
occasionally faint while at/ work ; indeed^ there cannot be 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 269 

an occupation which more seriously deteriorates the con- 
stitution. Short-sightedness, amaurosis, distortion of the 
spine, excessive constitutional debility, indigestion, and 
derangement of the uterine functions, may be said to be 
almost universal: all the evidence points to this con- 
clusion/ 

'"^ In the town of Nottingham,' says Mr. Grainger, ^all 
parties, clergy, police, manufacturers, work-people, and 
parents, agree that the present mode of employing chil- 
dren and young persons as threaders and winders is a 
most fertile source of immorality. There can, in fact, be 
but few states more immediately leading to vice and prof- 
ligacy. Children of both sexes are called out of their 
parents' houses at all hours of the night, and, as it is 
quite uncertain how long they may be required, whether 
for two hours or the whole night, a ready and unanswer- 
able excuse for staying out is furnished. — (No. 138.) 

" The moral condition of the lace-makers in Northamp- 
tonshire, Oxfordshire, Beds and Bucks, is stated by Ma- 
jor Burns to be extremely low, and prostitution is rife 
among them, from their scanty earnings, their love of 
finery, and the almost total absence of early moral cul- 
ture."— (Report : App. Pt. I, p. A. 12, s. 104.) 

MiUinerij and Dressmahing. — The portion of these in- 
tructive volumes which describes the condition of the 
young women employed as milliners and mantua-makers 
in our great cities, and especially in London, is, however, 
that which has left the most painful impression upon our 
minds — not only because the work of these unfortunate 
girls is of all the most severe and unremitting — nor be- 
cause it is inflicted exclusively upon the weaker sex, and 
at a period of life the most susceptible of injury from 
overstrained exertion — nor yet because the actual conse- 
quences which are shown to ensue in thousands of cases 
are so peculiarly deplorable — but because the excess of 



270 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

labor (with all its pernicious and fatal results) is endured 
in the service, and inflicted in execution of the orders, of 
a class whose own exemption from toil and privation should 
make them scrupulously careful not to increase, cause- 
lessly or selfishly, the toils and privations of their less 
favored fellow-creatures — a class, too, many of whom 
have been conspicuously loud in denouncing the cruelties 
of far more venial offenders, and in expresssing a some- 
what clamorous and overacted sympathy with sufferings 
which cannot for a moment be compared in severity with 
those which are every day inflicted on the helpless of 
their own sex, in ministering to their own factitious and 
capricious wants. The remark may appear harsh, but 
the evidence before us fully warrants it — that probably in 
no occupation whatever — not in the printing fields of 
Lancashire — not in the lace trade of Nottingham — not in 
the collieries of Scotland — scarcely in the workshops of 
Willenhall — most assuredly not in the cotton factories of 
Manchester, (which a few years ago the fashionable fair 
of London were so pathetic in lamenting) — can any in- 
stances of cruelty be met with which do not '^ whiten in 
the shade '^ of those which every spring and autumn sea- 
son sees practiced — unreprobated, and till now nearly un- 
known — in the millinery estahlisJiments of the metropolis. 
The following extracts will show that we are guilty of 
no exaggeration. — (II, p. 114-122.) 

^' 622. It is estimated that there are in London, in the 
millinery and dressmaking business, at least 1500 em- 
ployers, and that the number of young people engaged 
by each employer varies from two or three to twenty-five 
or thirty-five — the average in each establishment being 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 271 

about ten, making in the whole 15,000 ; but this does not 
inchide journeywomen who work at their own houses, of 
whom also there are great numbers. 

"623. In some of what are considered the best regu- 
lated establishments, during the fashionable season, occu- 
pying about four months in the year, the regular hours of 
work are fifteen, but on emergencies, which frequently 
recur, these hours extend to eighteen. In many estab- 
lishments the hours of work, during the season, are un- 
limited, the young women never getting more than six, 
often not more than four, sometimes only three, and oc- 
casionally not more than two hours for rest and sleep out 
of the twenty-four; and very frequently they work all 
night. 

" 625. Miss O'Neil, Welbeck street, an employer, says 
— 'In the spring season the hours of work are unlimited. 
The common hours are from six a. m. till twelve at night 
— sometimes from four a. m. till twelve. Has herself 
often worked from six a. m. till twelve at nisrht for two or 
three months together. It is not at all uncommon, espe- 
cially in the dressmaking, to work all night ; just in the 
^ diive of the season,^ the work is occasionally continued 
all night three times a-week. Has worked herself twice 
in the week all night. In some houses which profess to 
study the health of their young people, they begin at four 
a. m. and leave off at eleven p. m., never earlier. Has 
heard there are houses in London which work on Sundays. 

'•'■ 628. Miss , manager — ^has been ten 

years a " first hand,^' which signifies the party who takes 
the superintendence of the business, as overlooker of the 
young persons, cutter-out of the work, &c. The common 
hours of business are from eight a. m, till eleven p. m. 
in the winter ; in the summer from six or half-past six a. 
m. till twelve at night. During the fashionable season, 
that is from April to the end of July, it frequently hap- 
pens that the ordinary hours are greatly exceeded : if 
there is a drawing-room, or grand fete, or mourning 
to be made, it often happens that the work goes on 
for twenty hours out of the twenty-four, occasionally all 



272 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

night. Every season in at least half the houses of busi- 
ness, it happens that the young persons occasionally work 
twenty hours out of the twenty-four, twice or thrice a- 
week. On special occasions, such as drawing-rooms, gen- 
eral mournings, and very frequently wedding orders, it is 
not uncommon to work all night; has herself worked 
twenty hours out of the twenty-four for three months to- 
gether ; at that time she was suifering from illness, and 
the medical attendant remonstrated against the treatment 
she received. He wished witness to remain in bed at 
least one day longer, which the employer objected to, re- 
quired her to get up, and dismissed the surgeon. It fre- 
quently happened that the work was carried on till seven 
o'clock on Sunday morning. If any particular order was 
to be executed, as mournings or weddings, and they left 
off on Saturday night at eleven, they worked the whole 
of Sunday ; thinks this happened fifteen times in the two 
years. In consequence of working so late on Sunday 
morning, or all that day occasionally, could very rarely go 
to church ; indeed it could not be thought of, because 
they generally rested in bed/ 

'^ 639. The correctness of these representations is con- 
firmed, among others, by the following medical witnesses : 
— Sir James Clark, Bart., Physician to the Queen — *I 
have found the mode of life of these poor girls such as 
no constitution could long bear. Worked from six in the 
morning till twelve at night, with the exception of the 
short intervals allowed for their meals, in close rooms, 
and passing the few hours allowed for rest in still more 
close and crowded apartments — a mode of life more com- 
pletely calculated to destroy human health could scarcely 
be contrived, and this at a period of life when exercise in 
the open air, and a due proportion of rest, are essential to 
the development of the system. Judging from what I 
have observed and heard, I scarcely believed that the 
system adopted in our worst-regulated manufactories can 
be so destructive of health as the life of the young dress- 
maker.' 

'^647. ^The protracted labor described above,' says 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 273 

the Sub-commissioner, ^is, I believe, quite unparalleled 
in the history of manufacturing processes. I have looked 
over a considerable portion of the Report of the Factory 
Commission, and there is nothing in the accounts of the 
worst-conducted factories to be compared with the facts 
elicited in the present enquiry. Gentlemen who, from 
their official situation, were well qualified to judge, have 
also stated, in answer to my questions, that they knew of 
no instance in which the hours of work were so long as 
those above stated.' 

" 663. Of the general treatment and condition of 
these young people, the Sub-commissioner reports : — 
' The evidence of all parties establishes the fact that there 
is no class of persons in this country, living by their la- 
bor, whose happiness, health, and lives, are so unscrupu- 
lously sacrificed as those of the young dressmakers. It 
may without exaggeration be stated, that, in proportion 
to the numbers employed, there are no occupations, with 
one or two questionable exceptions, such as needle-grind- 
ing, in which so much disease is produced as in dressma- 
king, or which present so fearful a catalogue of distress- 
ing and frequently fatal maladies. It is a serious aggra- 
vation of all this evil, that the unkindness of the employer 
very frequently causes these young persons, when they 
become unwell, to conceal their illness from the fear of 
being sent out of the house; and in this manner, the dis- 
ease often becomes increased in severity, or is even ren- 
dered incurable. Some of the principals are so cruel as 
to object to the young women obtaining medical assist- 
ance/''— (No. 626.) 



274 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE LONDON GLOBE ON WEST INDIA EMANCIPATION. 

We find tlie following frank and explicit admis- 
sion in the Globe of lOtli July, 1856 : 

^' Our own West India Islands are fast relapsing into 
primitive savageness. When the rich lands of Jamaica 
are being yearly abandoned, and when in Trinidad and 
Guiana cultivation has almost ceased, it is not likely that 
England will care to extend her sovereignty further over 
tropical territory, which can only be brought into use by 
a system which has been solemnly condemned/' 

Now, let us rigidly examine and ascertain what 
is the condemned system, what the approved sys- 
tem, that has been generally adopted in its stead, 
and why this system is approved, and the free ne- 
gro system condemned as a failure. 

There is no doubt the writer alludes to the sys- 
tem of domestic slavery, in the general, as the con- 
demned system ; and especially, to that serfdom or 
villienage which lately prevailed, but is now abol- 
ished throughout Western Europe. In asserting 
that the system of slavery has been condemned, 
and yet admitting West India emancipation to be a 
failure, he in effect maintains that the liberation of 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 275 

the villiens has been no failure. He means that it 
has been no failure, because the liberated villiens do 
work; aye, just twice as hard and as long as their 
ancestors, the serfs. lie means it is no failure, be- 
cause they not only work harder and longer, but 
work for half the pay or allowance of their*servile 
ancestors. He means it is no failure, because the 
once masters, now employers, get their labor for 
half what it cost to support them as slaves. He 
means it is no failure, because free labor in Eng- 
land is more plentiful and far cheaper than slave 
labor in America. He means it is no failure, be- 
cause the employers, besides getting cheaper and 
more abundant labor, are relieved of all the cares 
and anxieties of governing and providing for their 
laborers, in health and in sickness, in old age and 
in infancy. In fine, he means it is no failure, be- 
cause the laborers of England are not half so free 
now as before their pretended emancipation. They 
have lost all their rights, half their liberty (for they 
work harder than before,) and their former masters 
have been relieved of all their legal obligations and 
responsibilities. No — British emancipation has not 
failed, if we look solely to the selfish interests of 
the property class. And British liberty, we shall 
show in another chapter, means the unlimited right 
of the property class to oppress the laboring class, 
uncoupled with the obligation to provide for them. 
But this writer well knew, that looking to the effect 



276 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

of emancipation on the condition of the laboring 
class in England, it has been a cruel and monstrous 
failure, from first to last. They are almost as sav- 
age and ignorant as West India negroes, know no- 
thing of the Bible, and live in a state of continued 
destitution, hunger, and excessive 'labor, from gene- 
ration to generation — from infancy to old age. 

West India emancipation was a blunder of swin- 
dling philanthropy. People were told that the ne- 
groes, after emancipation, would work harder, work 
for less, and be more of slaves than before, just as 
had happened with emancipated English. But 
philanthropy "hath bad luck." It overlooked, or 
forgot, the few wants and indolent habits of the 
nesro, the abundance of mountain lands, the fertile 
soil, the volunteer fruits and mild climate of Ja- 
maica. The negro is really free, and luxuriates in 
sloth, ignorance and liberty, as none but a negro 
can. The mistake and the failure consisted in set- 
ting him really free, instead of nominally so. 
Hinc illse lachrymee ! 

What vile hypocrisy to shed crocodile tears over 
the happy negro, and boast of British Liberty, 
which is daily and hourly consuming, by poverty, 
and cold, and foul air and water, and downright 
starvation, the lives of ten millions of your white 
brethren and neighbors ! 

But this system, which carried to untimely graves 
three hundred thousand Irishmen in a sincrle sea- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 277 

son, has not been condemned. No; it is profitable 
to the oppressors, and will not be condemned. 

In all countries where a few own the property 
and the population is tolerably dense, laborers re- 
lieved from domestic slavery are remitted to the 
exploitation of skill and capital, which renders 
them less free and worse situated in all respects 
after emancipation than before. To prove this 
great truth, is the chief object of our present work. 
We know that the philosophy of the subject is intri- 
cate and complex, and that we have the preju- 
dices, fanaticism and prepossessions of a world to 
oppose and conquer. We therefore indulge in fre- 
quent iteration, and adduce numerous proofs, exam- 
ples and illustrations. 



278 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 



CHAPTER XIX. 

PROTECTION, AND CHARITY, TO THE WEAK. 

A mere verbal formula often distinguishes a tru- 
ism from a paradox. "It is the duty of society to 
protect the weak ; " but protection cannot be effi- 
cient without the power of control; therefore, "It 
is the duty of society to enslave the weak." And 
it is a duty which no organized and civilized soci- 
ety ever failed to perform. Parents, husbands, 
guardians, teachers, committees, &c., are but mas- 
ters under another name, whose duty it is to pro- 
tect the weak, and whose right it is to control them. 
The blacks in America are both positively and re- 
latively weak. Positively so, because they are too 
improvident to lay up for the exigencies of sickness, 
of the seasons, or of old age. Relatively so, be- 
cause they are wholly unequal to the whites among 
whom they live, in the war of the wits and free 
competition, which universal liberty begets, and 
political economy encourages. 

In old countries the white laborers are relatively 
weak, because all property is closely appropriated, 
and the capitalist class possess the means of unlim- 
ited oppression. Everybody admits that in such 
countries the poor need protection. But there can 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 279 

be no efficient protection without enslavement of 
some sort. In England, it has often been remarked, 
that all the legislation for the poor is borrowed from 
the system of domestic slavery. 

Public and private charity is a fund created by 
the labor of the industrious poor, and too often be- 
stowed on the idle or improvident. It is apt to 
aggravate the evils which it intends to cure. 

Those who give should have the power to control, 
to some extent, the conduct and expenditure of the 
objects of their charity. Not till then" can they be 
sure that their gifts will be promotive of good. But 
such power of control would be slavery. 

Can abolitionists solve these social problems ? 

Ambition has ever been considered the most no- 
ble of human failings. It is, however, no failing, 
or crime, at all. Ambition desires power, and with- 
out power there can be no safe, prudent and active 
benevolence. The selfish, the indolent, and the 
timid, are without ambition, and eschew power, be- 
cause of the trouble, the expenses, and the respon- 
sibilities which it imposes. The actively good are 
always ambitious, and desire to possess power, in 
order that they may control, in some measure, the 
conduct of those whom they desire to benefit. 

The best thing a philanthropist can do, is to buy 
slaves, because then his power of control is great- 
est — his ability to do practical good, most perfect. 

We take this occasion to correct an error into 



280 CANNIBALS ALL ; OR, 

wliicli we had fallen as to Northern character. Be- 
nevolence, affection, generosity, and philanthropy, 
are equally common North and South ; and only 
differ in their modes of manifestation. We are one 
people. 

The daily and hourly exercise of these qualities 
is elicited at the South, because it is safe, prudent 
and expedient so to exercise them. The reverse is 
true at the North: yet, "expel Nature and she will 
return again." Man is social and philanthropic, 
and his affections, dammed out in one direction, 
find vent and gush out in another. The people of 
the North are far more generous and munificent in 
the endowment of public charities, and other pub- 
lic institutions, than we. This correction of our 
error does not affect our theories — if it be true, 
that you can only safely be charitable to depend- 
ents whom you can control. But if it did or does 
affect, neutralize and subvert them, it is due to 
truth, — and if we advance the cause of truth, we 
are ready for the sacrifice of all else. 

" Our Trip to the North " excited doubts as to 
our estimate of Northern character; and subse- 
quent observation, reading and reflection, have 
brought us to the conclusion, which we now with 
pleasure avow. We would rather be right than 
consistent. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 281 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE FAMILY. 

All modern philosophy converges to a single 
point — the overthrow of all government, the substi- 
tution of the untrammelled " Sovereignty of the In- 
dividual/' for the Sovereignty of Society, and the 
inauguration of anarchy. First domestic slavery, 
next religious institutions, then separate property, 
then political government, and, finally, family gov- 
ernment and family relations, are to be swept away. 
This is the distinctly avowed programme of all able 
abolitionists and socialists; and towards this end 
the doctrines and the practices of the weakest and 
most timid among them tend. Proudhon, and the 
French socialists generally, avow this purpose in 
France, and Stephen Pearl Andrews re-echoes it 
from America. The more numerous and timid class 
are represented by Mr. Greeley and the Tribune, 
who would not ^'at once rush," like French revolu- 
tionists, "with the explosive force of escapement, 
point blank to the bull's eye of its final destiny," 
but would inaugurate social conditions, that would 
gradually bring about that result. Mr. Greeley 
does not propose to do away at once with marriage, 
religion, private property, political government and 



282 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

parental authority, but adopts the philosophy and 
the practices of Fourier, which promise gradually 
to purify human nature, and fit it, in a few genera- 
tions, for that social millenium, into w^hich the 
bolder and more consistent Andrews urges society 
at once to plunge. 

The Christian socialists are beautifully and ener- 
getically co-laborating with the infidel socialists and 
abolitionists to bring about this millenium. They 
also are divided into two parties. The one would 
wait upon Providence — only help it a little, like Mr. 
Greeley — and permit our poor old efi"ete world to 
pass out of existence by gentle euthanasia. The 
other and bolder party, feel themselves '' called" as 
special instruments, to give at once the coup de 
grace to the old world, and to usher in the new gol- 
den age, of free love and free lands, of free women 
and free negroes, of free children and free men. 

We like the Northern socialist theoretical aboli- 
tionists — read their speeches, essays, lectures and 
books, because they agree with us, that their own 
form of society is a humbug and a failure ; and 
in their efforts, speculations and schemes to re-or- 
ganize it, afford the most beautiful, perfect and 
complete specimen of the reductio ad absurdum. 
A lecture from Mr. Andrews on No-government, 
an Oneida den of incest, a Greeley phalanstery, or 
a New York free love saloon, afford equally good 
instances of this mode of demonstration by the ab- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 283 

surdities which they exhibit, and equally good 
proofs of the naturalness and necessity of slavery, 
since such horrid abuses are everywhere the ap- 
proved and practiced outgrowth of free society. As 
all our thoughts, arguments, proofs and demonstra- 
tions are suggested by or borrowed from the aboli- 
tionists, it seems to us we ought to dedicate to them. 
The Tribune very properly remarked that our So- 
ciology was the first attempt of the kind at the 
South. It ridiculed our ignorance, too, severely. 
It should have recollected that were there no sick- 
ness there would be no physicians. We assure the 
Tribune, we are quite a prodigy in these matters 
for a Southern man. We have no social diseases, 
and therefore no social doctors to w^rite about them 
or cure them. Such diseases have been rare ; for 
Aristotle complains that there are no terms to ex- 
press the relations of husband and wife, or parent 
and child. These relations have worked so 
smoothly in slave society to this day, that we 
in writing have felt the same want of language of 
which Aristotle, more than two thousand years ago, 
complained. You should invent such terms at the 
North, if it be true, as Mr. Andrews states in 
italics, that there are ten fugitives from Northern 
matrimony to one from Southern slavery — from 
which he seems to infer very logically, that the ne- 
cessity of abolishing the family at the North, is ten 
times as great as that for abolishing slavery at the 



284 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

South. He and you are experts, and we know it is 
presumptuous in us to dispute what you say about 
your own society. Still we are dead against your 
phalansteries and his love saloons. Gentlemen and 
scholars, generally at the South, would as soon be 
caught studying or practicing the black art, as in 
reading Owen or Fourier, or in building phalanste- 
ries. For ourselves, like the Bastard in King John, 
we learn these things, " not to deceive, but to avoid 
deceit." We have whole files of infidel and aboli- 
tion papers, like the Tribune, the Liberator and 
Investigator. Fanny Wright, the Devil's Pulpit 
and the Devil's Parson, Tom Paine, Owen, Voltaire, 
et id genus omne, are our daily companions. Good 
people give our office a wide berth as they pass it, 
and even the hens who loiter about it, have caught 
the infection of Woman's Rights, for we saw but a 
few days ago a Shanghai cock under its eaves 
hovering a brood of twenty chickens, whilstmadam 
hen was strutting about in as large a liberty as 
any Bloomer or wise woman of the North. 

Love and veneration for the family is with us not 
only a principle, but probably a prejudice and a 
weakness. We were never two weeks at a time 
from under the family roof, until we had passed 
middle life, and now that our years almost number 
half a century, we have never been from home for 
an interval of two months. And our historical 
reading, as well as our habits of life, may have un- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 285 

fitted us to appreciate the communist and fusion 
theories of Fanny Wright, Owen and Mr. Grcely. 
In attempting to vindicate and justify the ways 
of God and Nature, against the progressiveness of 
Black Republicanism in America, and Red Repub- 
licanism in Europe, we would forewarn the reader 
that we are a prejudiced witness. We are the en- 
thusiastic admirer of the social relations exhibited 
in the histories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 
The social relations established in Deuteronomy, 
and 25th chapter Leviticus, and as practiced by 
the Jews to this day, elicit our unfeigned admira- 
tion and approval. Moses is with us the Prince of 
Legislators, and the twenty-fifth Leviticus the best 
of political platforms. The purity of the family 
seems to be his paramount object. 

Homer, too, especially in his Odyssey, charms and 
enchains us with his beautiful descriptions of family 
felicity and family purity. As conquest and com- 
merce introduced wealth and corrupted morals and 
manners, the family w^as corrupted and disrupted, 
as it is now, at the most commercial points in the 
North. But we have only to pass over to Italy, 
and there, from the earliest days of tradition until 
the extinction of liberty, began by Sylla and Ma- 
rius, and ended by Augustus, we find the family a 
pure, a holy and sacred thing. From that era till 
slavery arose in the South, the family never re- 
sumed its dignity and importance. Feudalism did 



286 CANNIBALS ALL; OR. 

something to correct the loose morality of the Angus- 
tan Age, but it adopted its colonial slavery, relaxed 
family ties, and never drew together in sufficiently 
close connection and subordination, the materials 
•which nature dictates should form the human hive 
or social circle. 

Aristotle understood this subject thoroughly; 
and it seems to have been generally so well com- 
prehended in his day, that he takes little trouble 
to explain and expound it. He commences his 
treatise on Politics and Economics with the family, 
and discourses first of the slaves as a part of the 
family. He assumes that social life is as natural 
to man as to bees and herds ; and that the family, 
including husband, wife, children, and slaves, is the 
first and most natural development of that social 
nature. As States are composed of families, and 
as a sound and healthy whole cannot be formed of 
rotten parts, he devotes much of his treatise to 
family education and government. Would that 
modern statesmen, philosophers and politicians, 
would become practical like Aristotle, and not at- 
tempt to build social and political edifices, until 
they were sure of the soundness of the materials 
of which they would construct them. As all hu- 
man beings live for .the greatest part of their lives 
in families, it is all important that they should look 
to the wise arrangement of this old and universal 
institution. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 287 

We wish to prove that the great movement in 
society, known under various names, as Commu- 
nism, Socialism, Abolitionism, Red Republicanism 
and Black Republicanism, has one common object : 
the breaking up of all law and government, and 
the inauguration of anarchy, and that the destruc- 
tion of the family is one of the means in which 
they all concur to attain a common end. We shall 
quote only from Stephen Pearle Andrews, because 
he is by far the ablest and best informed of Ame- 
rican Socialists and Reformers, and because he 
cites facts and authorities to show that he presents 
truly the current thought and the general inten- 
tion. Mr. Andrews is a Massachusetts gentleman, 
who has lived at the South. He has been an Abo- 
lition Lecturer. He is the disciple of Warren, who 
is the disciple of Owen of Lanark and New Har- 
mony. Owen and Warren are Socrates and Plato, 
and he is the Great Stygarite, as far surpassing 
them, as Aristotle surpassed Socrates and Plato. 
But it is not merely his theories on which we rely ; 
he cites historical facts that show that the tendency 
and terminus of all abolition is to the sovereignty 
of the individual, the breaking up of families, and 
no-government. He delivered a series of lectures 
to the elite of New York on this subject, which 
met with approbation, and from which we shall 
quote. He established, or aided to establish, Free 
Love Villages, and headed a Free Love Saloon in 



288 CANNIBALS ALL; OK, 

the city of New York, patronized and approved by 
the ''Higher classes." He is indubitably the 
philosopher and true exponent of Northern Aboli- 
tionism. With this assertion, which none who read 
his Science of Society we think will deny, we pro- 
ceed to quote from his able and beautiful lectures, 
embodied in a publication entitled *' Science of 
Society." Our first quotation is from his first lec- 
ture and the first chapter of his work : 

Every age is a remarkable one, no doubt, for those 
who live in it. When immobility reigns most in human 
affairs, there is still enough of movement to fix the at- 
tention, and even to excite the wonder of those who are 
immediately in proximity with it. This natural bias in 
favor of the period with which we have most to do, is by 
no means sufiicient, however, to account for the growing 
conviction, on all minds, that the present epoch is a 
marked transition from an old to a new order of things. 
The scattered rays of the gray dawn of the new era date 
back, indeed, beyond the lifetime of the present genera- 
tion. The first streak of light that streamed through 
the dense darkness of the old regime was the declaration 
by Martin Luther of the right of private judgment in 
matters of conscience. The next, which shed terror upon 
the old world, as a new portent of impending revolutions, 
was the denial, by Hampden, Sidney, Cromwell, and 
others, of the divine right of kings, and the assertion of 
inherent political rights in the people themselves. This 
was followed by the American Declaration of Independ- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 289 

ence, the establishment of a powerful Democratic Repub- 
lic in the western world upon the basis of that principle, 
followed by the French Revolution, the Reign of Terror, 
the Re-action, and the apparent death in Europe of the 
Democratic idea. Finally, in our day, comes the red 
glare of French Socialism, at which the world is still 
gazing with uncertainty whether it be some lurid and 
meteoric omen of fearful events, or whether it be not the 
actual rising of the Sun of Righteousness, with healing 
in His wings; for there are those who profoundly and 
religiously believe that the solution of the social prob- 
lem will be the virtual descent of the New Jerusa- 
lem — the installation of the Kingdom of Heaven upon 
earth. 

First in the religious, then in the political, and finally 
in the social relations of men, new doctrines have thus 
been broached, which are full of promise to the hopeful, 
and full of alarm and dismay to the timid and conserva- 
tive. This distinction marks the broadest division in the 
ranks of mankind. In church, and state, and social life, 
the real parties are the Progressionists and the Retro- 
gressionists — those whose most brilliant imaginings are 
linked with the future, and those whose sweetest remem- 
brances bind them in tender associations to the past. 
Catholic and Protestant, AVhig and Democrat, Anti- 
Socialist and Socialist, are terms which, in their origin, 
correspond to this generic division ; but no sooner does a 
new classification take place than the parties thus formed 
are again subdivided, on either hand, by the ever-per- 
meating tendency, on the one side toward freedom, eman- 

13 



290 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

cipation, and progress, and toward law, and order, and 
immobility on the other. 

Hitherto the struggle between conservatism and pro- 
gress has seemed doubtful. Victory has kissed the ban- 
ner, alternately, of either host. At length the serried 
ranks of conservatism falter. Reform, so called, is be- 
coming confessedly more potent than its antagonist. The 
admission is reluctantly forced from pallid lips that revo- 
lutions — political, social and religious — constitute the 
programme of the coming age. Reform, so called, for 
weal or woe, but yet Reform, must rule the hour. The 
older constitutions of society have outlived their day. 
No truth commends itself more universally to the minds 
of men now, than that thus set forth by Carlyle : " There 
must be a new world if there is to be any world at all. 
That human things in our Europe can ever return to the 
old sorry routine, and proceed with any steadiness or 
continuance there — this small hope is not now a tenable 
one. These days of universal death must be days of 
universal new birth, if the ruin is not to be total and 
final ! It is a time to make the dullest man consider, 
and ask himself. Whence he came? Whither he is 
bound ? A veritable ' New Era,' to the foolish as well 
as to the wise.'' Nor is this state of things confined to 
Europe. The agitations in America may be more peace- 
ful, but they are not less profound. The foundations of 
old beliefs and habits of thought are breaking up. The 
old guarantees of order are fast falling away. A verita- 
ble ''new era" with us, too, is alike impending and 
inevitable. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 291 

So much to show the width and scope of the so- 
cial revolution that is contemplated as well by de- 
structives as conservatives ; for Mr. Carlyle is like 
ourselves, and thinks society needs more govern- 
ment, screwing up, instead of relaxing. He, too, is 
a socialist, but a conservative socialist. He asserts, 
like Mr. Andrews, that society has failed, but pro- 
poses a different mode of reconstruction. At the 
very moment we in America were announcing the 
Failure of Free Society, he in Europe proclaimed 
the ' Latter Day' of that Society. It was but a dif- 
ferent mode of expressing the same thought. Now 
we will show from this same lecture of Mr. An- 
drews, that the annihilation of the Family is part 
of the programme of Abolition. He says, page 
31, in this same lecture : 

Every variety of conscience, and every variety of de- 
portment in reference to this precise subject of love is 
already tolerated among us. At one extreme of the 
scale stand the Shakers, who abjure the connection of 
the sexes altogether. At the other extremity stands the 
association of Perfectionists, at Oneida, who hold and 
practice, and justify by the Scriptures, as a rehgious 
dogma, what they denominate complex marriage, or the 
freedom of love. We have, in this State, stringent laws 
against adultery and fornication; but laws of that sort 
fall powerless, in America, before the all-pervading senti- 
ment of Protestantism, which vindicates the freedom of 
conscience to all persons and in all things, provided the 



292 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

consequences fall upon the parties themselves. Hence 
the Oneida Perfectionists live undisturbed and respected, 
in the heart of the State of New York, and in the face 
of the world ; and the civil government, true to the De- 
mocratic principle, which is only the same principle in 
another application, is little anxious to interfere with this 
breach of its own ordinances, so long as they cast none of 
the consequences of their conduct upon those who do not 
consent to bear them. 

And, page 33, he says : 

In general, however, Government still interferes with 
the marriage and parental relations. Democracy in 
America has always proceeded with due reference to 
the prudential motto, feUina lente. In France, at the 
time of the first Hevolution, Democracy rushed with the 
explosive force of escapement from centuries of compres- 
sion, point blank to the bull's eye of its final destiny, 
from which it recoiled with such force that the stupid 
world has dreamed, for half a century, that the vital 
principle of Democracy was dead. As a logical sequence 
from Democratic principle, the legal obligation of mar- 
riage was sundered, and the Sovereignty of the Indivi- 
dual above the institution was vindicated. 

Page 42 : 

I must apologize as well for the incompleteness as for 
the apparent dogmatism of any brief exposition of this 
subject. I assert that it is not only possible and ration- 
ally probable, but that it is rigidly consequential upon 
the right understanding of the constitution of man, that 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 293 

all government, in the sense of involuntary restraint 
upon the Individual, or substantially all, must finally 
cease, and along with it the whole complicated parapher- 
nalia and trumpery of Kings, Emperors, Presidents, 
Legislatures, and Judiciary. I assert that the indicia of 
this result abound in existing society, and that it is the 
instinctive or intelligent perception of that fact by those 
who have not bargained for so much, which gives origin 
and vital energy to the re-action in church and state and 
social life. I assert that the distance is less to-day for- 
ward from the theory and practice of Grovernment as it 
is in these United States, to the total abrogation of all 
Government above that of the Individual, than it is 
backward to the theory and practice of Grovernment as 
Grovernment now is in the despotic countries of the old 
world. 

The reader will thus see that Abolition contem- 
plates the total overthrow of the Family and all 
other existing social, moral, religious and govern- 
mental institutions. We quote Mr. Andrews be- 
cause he is ' longo intervallo,' the ablest Abolition 
Philosopher. Many volumes would be needed to 
display and expose the opinions of all the vota- 
ries of the New Philosophy. But every man who 
sets to work honestly to discover truth, will find at 
every step, that we have neither distorted nor exag- 
gerated. The Family is threatened, and all men 
North or South who love and revere it, should be 
up and a doing. 



294 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 



CHAPTER XXI. 

NEGRO SLAVERY. 

Until the lands of America are appropriated by 
a few, population becomes dense, competition 
among laborers active, employment uncertain, and 
wages low, the personal liberty of all the whites 
will continue to be a blessing. We have vast un- 
settled territories ; population may cease to in- 
crease, or increase slowly, as in most countries, 
and many centuries may elapse before the question 
will be practically suggested, whether slavery to 
capital be preferable to slavery to human masters. 
But the negro has neither energy nor enterprise, 
and, even in our sparser population, finds, with his 
improvident habits, that his liberty is a curse to 
himself, and a greater curse to the society around 
him. These considerations, and others equally ob- 
vious, have induced the Scuth to attempt to defend 
negro slavery as an exceptional institution, admit- 
ting, nay asserting, that slavery, in the general or 
in the abstract, is morally wrong, and against com- 
mon right. With singular inconsistency, after 
making this admission, which admits away the 
authority of the Bible, of profane history, and of 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 295 

the almost universal practice of mankind — they 
turn round and attempt to bolster up the cause of 
negro slavery by these very exploded authorities. 
If we mean not to repudiate all divine, and almost 
all human authority in favor of slavery, we must 
vindicate that institution in the abstract. 

To insist that a status of society, which has been 
almost universal, and which is expressly and con- 
tinually justified by Holy Writ, is its natural, nor- 
mal, and necessary status, under the ordinary cir- 
cum.stances, is on its face a plausible and probable 
proposition. To insist on less, is to yield our 
cause, and to give up our religion ; for if white 
slavery be morally WTOng, be a violation of natural 
riorhts, the Bible cannot be true. Human and di- 
vine authority do seem in the general to concur, 
in establishing the expediency, of having masters 
and slaves of different races. The nominal servi- 
tude of the Jews to each other, in its temporary 
character, and no doubt in its mild character, more 
nearly resembled our wardship and apprenticeship, 
than ordinary domestic slavery. In very many 
nations of antiquity, and in some of modern times, 
the law has permitted the native citizens to become 
slaves to each other. But few take advantage of 
such laws ; and the infrequency of the practice, 
establishes the general truth that master and slave 
should be of different national descent. In some 
respects, the wider the difference the better, as the 



296 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

slave will feel less mortified by his position. In 
other respects, it may be that too wide a difference 
hardens the hearts and brutalizes the feelings of 
both master and slave. The civilized man hates 
the savage, and the savage returns the hatred with 
interest. Hence, West India slavery, of newly 
caught negroes, is not a very humane, affectionate 
or civilizing institution. Virginia negroes have be- 
come moral and intelligent. They love their mas- 
ter and his family, and the attachment is recipro- 
cated. Still, we like the idle, but intelligent house- 
servants, better than the hard-used, but stupid out- 
hands; and we like the mulatto better than the 
negro ; yet the negro is generally more affectionate, 
contented and faithful. 

The world at large looks on negro slavery as 
much the worst form of slavery ; because it is only 
acquainted with West India slavery. Abolition 
never arose till negro slavery was instituted ; and 
now abolition is only directed against negro slavery. 
There is no philanthropic crusade attempting to 
set free the white slaves of Eastern Europe and of 
Asia. The w^orld, then, is prepared for the defence 
of slavery in the abstract — it is prejudiced only 
against negro slavery. These prejudices were in 
their origin well founded. The Slave Trade, the 
horrors of the Middle Passage, and West India 
slavery, were enough to rouse the most torpid phi- 
lanthropy. 



SLAVES WITnOUT MASTERS. 297 

But our Southern slavery has become a benign 
and protective institution, and our negroes are con- 
fessedly better off than any free laboring popula- 
tion in the world. 

How can we contend that white slavery is wrong, 
whilst all the great body of free laborers are starv- 
ing; and slaves, white or black, throughout the 
world, are enjoying comfort? 

We write in the cause of Truth and Humanity, 
and will not play the advocate for master or for 
slave. 

The aversion to negroes, the antipathy of race, 
is much greater at the North than at the South ; 
and it is very probable that this antipathy to the 
person of the negro, is confounded with or gene- 
rates hatred of the institution with which he is 
usually connected. Hatred to slavery is very gene- 
rally little more than hatred of negroes. 

There is one strong argument in favor of negro 
slavery over all other slavery : that he, being unfit- 
ted for the mechanic arts, for trade, and all skillful 
pursuits, leaves those pursuits to be carried on by 
the whites ; and does not bring all industry into 
disrepute, as in Greece and Kome, where the slaves 
were not only the artists and mechanics, but also 
the merchants. 

Whilst, as a general and abstract question, negro 
slavery has no other claims over other forms of 
slavery, except that from inferiority, or rather pe- 



298 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

culiarity, of race, almost all negroes require mas- 
ters, whilst only the children, the women, the very 
wxak, poor, and ignorant, &c., among the whites, 
need some protective and governing relation of this 
kind; yet as a subject of temporary, hut world- 
wide importance, negro slavery has become the 
most necessary of all human institutions. 

The African slave trade to America commenced 
three centuries and a half since. By the time of 
the American Revolution, the supply of slaves had 
exceeded the demand for slave labor, and the slave- 
holders, to get rid of a burden, and to prevent the 
increase of a nuisance, became violent opponents of 
the slave trade, and many of them abolitionists. 
New England, Bristol, and Liverpool, who reaped 
the profits of the trade, without suffering from the 
nuisance, stood out for a long time against its aboli- 
tion. Finally, laws and treaties were made, and 
fleets fitted out to abolish it ; and after a while, the 
slaves of most of South America, of the West In- 
dies, and of Mexico were liberated. In the mean- 
time, cotton, rice, sugar, coffee, tobacco, and other 
products of slave labor, came into universal use as 
necessaries of life. The population of Western 
Europe, sustained and stimulated by those products, 
was trebled, and that of the North increased ten- 
fold. The products of slave labor became scarce 
and dear, and famines frequent. Now, it is obvious, 
that to emancipate all the negroes would be to 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 299 

starve Western Europe and our North. Not to ex- 
tend and increase negro slavery, ^pay-z loassu^ with 
the extension and multiplication of free society, will 
produce much suffering. If all South America, 
Mexico, the West Indies, and our Union south of 
Mason and Dixon's line, of the Ohio and Missouri, 
were slaveholding, slave products would be abun- 
dant and cheap in free society ; and their market 
for their merchandise, manufactures, commerce, 
&c., illimitable. Free white laborers might live in 
comfort and luxury on light work, but for the ex- 
acting and greedy landlords, bosses and other capi- 
talists. 

We must confess, that overstock the world as 
you will with comforts and with luxuries, we do not 
see how to make capital relax its monopoly — how to 
do aught but tantalize the hireling. Capital, irre- 
sponsible capital, begets, and ever will beget, the 
'' immedicabile vulnus " of so-called Free Society. 
It invades every recess of domestic life, infects its 
food, its clothing, its drink, its very atmosphere, 
and pursues the hireling, from the hovel to the 
poor-house, the prison and the grave. Do what he 
will, go where he will, capital pursues and perse- 
cutes him. ^' H^eret lateri lethalis arundo !" 

Capital supports and protects the domestic slave ; 
taxes, oppresses and persecutes the free laborer. 



300 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE STRENGTH OF WEAKNESS. 

An unexplored moral world stretches out before 
us, and invites our investigation ; but neither our 
time, our abilities, nor the character of our work, 
will permit us to do more than glance at its love- 
liness. 

It is pleasing, however, to turn from the world 
of political economy, in which ^' might makes 
right," and strength of mind and of body are em- 
ployed to oppress and exact from the weak, to that 
other and better, and far more numerous world, in 
which weakness rules, clad in the armor of affection 
and benevolence. It is delightful to retire from the 
outer world, with its competitions, rivalries, envy- 
ings, jealousies, and selfish war of the wits, to the 
bosom of the family, where the only tyrant is the 
infant — the greatest slave the master of the house- 
hold. You feel at once that you have exchanged 
the keen air of selfishness, for the mild atmosphere 
of benevolence. Each one prefers the good of 
others to his own, and finds most happiness in 
sacrificing selfish pleasures, and ministering to 
others' enjoyments. The wife, the husband, the 
parent, the child, the son, the brother and the sis- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 301 

ter, usually act towards each other on scriptural 
principles. The infant, in its capricious dominion 
over mother, father, brothers and sisters, exhibits, 
in strongest colors, the ''strength of weakness," 
the power of affection. The wife and daughters 
are more carefully attended by the father, than the 
sons, because they are weaker and elicit more of 
his affection. 

The dependent exercise, because of their depend- 
ence, as much control over their superiors, in most 
things, as those superiors exercise over them. 
Thus, and thus only, can conditions be equalized. 
This constitutes practical equality of rights, en- 
forced not by human, but by divine law. Our 
hearts bleed at the robbing of a bird's nest ; and 
the little birds, because they are weak, subdue our 
strength and command our care. We love and 
cherish the rose, and sympathize with the lily, which 
some wanton boy has bruised and broken. Our 
faithful dog shares our affections, and we will risk 
our lives to redress injustice done him. 

Man is not all selfish. " Might does not always 
make right." Within the family circle, the law of 
love prevails, not that of selfishness. 

But, besides wife and children, brothers and sis- 
ters, dogs, horses, birds and flowers — slaves, also, 
belong to the family circle. Does their common 
humanity, their abject weakness and dependence, 
their great value, their ministering to our wants in 



302 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

childhood, manhood, sickness and old age, cut them 
off from that affection which everything else in the 
family elicits ? No ; the interests of master and 
slave are bound up together, and each in his appro- 
priate sphere naturally endeavors to promote the 
happiness of the other. 

The humble and obedient slave exercises more or 
less control over the most brutal and hard-hearted 
master. It is an invariable law of nature, that 
weakness and dependence are elements of strength, 
and generally sufficiently limit that universal despot- 
ism, observable throughout human and animal na- 
ture. The moral and physical world is but a series 
of subordinations, and the more perfect the subor- 
dination, the greater the harmony and the happi- 
ness. Inferior and superior act and re-act on each 
other through agencies and media too delicate and 
subtle for human apprehensions ; yet, looking to 
usual results, man should be willing to leave to God 
what God only can regulate. Human law cannot 
beget benevolence, affection, maternal and paternal 
love ; nor can it supply their places ; but it may, 
by breaking up the ordinary relations of human 
beings, stop and disturb the current of these finer 
feelings of our nature. It may abolish slavery ; but 
it can never create between the capitalist and the 
laborer, between the employer and employed, the 
kind and affectionate relations that usually exist 
between master and slave. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 303 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

INI N E Y . 

From the days of Plato and Lycurgus to the pre- 
sent times, Social Reformers have sought to restrict 
or banish the use of money. We do not doubt that its 
moderate use is essential to civilization and promo- 
tive of human happiness and well-being — and we en- 
tertain as little doubt, that its excessive use is the 
most potent of all causes of human inequality of con- 
dition, of excessive wealth and luxury with the few, 
and of great destitution and suffering with the 
many, and of general effeminacy and corruption of 
morals. Money is the great weapon in free, equal, 
and competitive society, which skill and capital em- 
ploy in the war of the wits, to exploitate and op- 
press the poor, the improvident, and weak-minded. 
Its evil effects are greatly aggravated by the credit 
and banking systems, and by the facilities of inter- 
communication and locomotion which the world now 
possesses. Every bargain or exchange is more or 
less a hostile encounter of wits. Money vastly in- 
creases the number of bargains and exchanges, and 
thus keep society involved, if not in war, at least 
in unfriendly collision. Within the family, money 
is not employed between its members. Where the 



304 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

family includes slaves, the aggregate use of money 
is greatly restricted. This furnishes us with ano- 
ther argument to prove that Christian morality is 
practicable^ to a great extent, in slave society — im- 
practicable in free society. 

The Socialists derive this idea of dispensing with 
or restricting the use of money, from Sparta and 
other ancient States ; and to the same sources may 
be traced almost all their schemes of social im- 
provement. Plato, in his philosophy, borrowed from 
those sources, and subsequent Socialists have bor- 
rowed from him. We annex an interesting article 
on this subject of money from Sir Thomas Moore's 
Utopia : 

UTOPIA; OR, THE HAPPY REPUBLIC. 

'' Therefore, I must say that, as I hope for mercy, I 
can have no other notion of all the governments that I see 
or know, than that they are a conspiracy of the richer sort, 
who, on pretence of managing the public, do only pursue 
their private ends, and devise all the ways and arts that 
they can find out ; first, that they may, without danger^ 
preserve all they have so ill acquired, and then, that they 
may engage the former sort to toil and labor for them at 
as low rates as possible, and oppress them as much as 
they please; and if they can but prevail to get these 
contrivances established by public authority, which is 
considered as the representative of the whole people, then 
they are accounted laws; and yet these wicked men, 
after they have, by a most insatiable covetousness, divi- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 305 

ded that among themselves, with which all the rest might 
have been well supplied, are far from that happiness that 
is enjoyed by the Utopians ; for the use as well as the 
desire of money being extinguished, there is much anxiety 
and great occasion of mischief cut off with it. And who 
does not see that frauds, thefts, robberies, quarrels, tu- 
mults, contentions, seditions, murders, treacheries and 
witchcrafts, that are indeed rather punished than re- 
stricted by the severities of the law, would fall off, if 
money were not any more valued by the world. Their 
fears, solicitudes, cares, labors and watchings would all 
perish in the same moment that the value of money did 
sink." 



§06 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 



CHAPTER XXIY. 

GERRIT SMITH ON LAND REFORM, AND WILLIAM 
LOYD GARRISON ON NO-GOVERNMENT. 

Within the last week, we have received the Land 
Reformer, an agrarian paper, just started in New 
York, in which we are sure we recognize the pen 
of Gerrit Smith, the leader of the New York aboli- 
tionists ; and also a No. of the Liberator, in which 
Mr. Garrison, the leader of the New England aboli- 
tionists, defines his No-Government doctrines. 

In calling attention. North and South, to opi- 
nions openly and actively promulgated by such dis- 
tinguished men, which opinions are at war with all 
existing institutions, we are rendering equal ser- 
vice to all sections of our common country. 

Mr. Smith says : 

^' Why should not this monopoly be broken up ? Be- 
cause, says the objector, vested rights forbid it. But 
there can be no vested rights against original and natural 
rights. No claim of a part of the human family to the 
whole earth can be valid against the claim of the whole 
human family to it. No passing of papers or parchments 
in former generations can foreclose the rights of the pre- 
sent generation. No bargains and no conventional titles 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 307 

can avail in justice against the great title-deeds, by 
which Nature grants and conveys herself to each genera- 
tion, as it comes upon the earth; and by which she 
makes the living (simply because they are the living, 
and not at all because of their relation to the dead) the 
equal owners of her soil and seas, her light and air. No 
arrangements, by which the six thousand, who have mo- 
nopolized the lands of Ireland, should be allowed to over- 
come the title of the six millions to it. If the natural 
and inherent right of the whole is not paramount to that, 
which the fractions claim to have acquired, then are the 
six millions horn into the world trespassers ; and then is 
the Creator chargeable with a lack of wisdom and good- 
ness. If it is right that the mass ©f men should hold 
their standing-place on the earth by mere sufferance, or 
upon terms dictated by their fellows, then is it not true 
that God is an Impartial Father — for then it is not true 
that he has given the earth to all his children, but only 
to a select. '^ 

We, too, think Free Society a very bad thing, and 
a decided failure, but not half so bad as Mr. Smith 
paints it. There is a poor-house system in Ireland, 
which, to some extent, recognizes the doctrine that 
all men are entitled to live on the earth, and be 
supported from it. In practice, the system does 
not always work well ; yet we are confident it 
works much better for all parties, than would Mr. 
Smith's plan of agrarianism. 

But slavery does, in practice as well as in theory, 



308 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

acknowledge and enforce the right of all to be com- 
fortably supported from the soil. There was, we 
repeat, no pauperism in Europe till feudal slavery 
was abolished. 

It will be strange, indeed, if the voters in New 
York, a majority of whom own no land, do not 
take Mr. Smith at his word, and assert their supe- 
rior claim, under his Higher Law and " Fundamen- 
tal Principles," to all the land. 'Tis a concise and 
ingenious syllogism, to this effect : " The earth be- 
longs equally to all mankind, under the Higher 
Law, or Law of God, which is superior to all human 
laws ; therefore, the lackland majority have a bet- 
ter right to the soil than the present proprietors, 
whose title is derived from mere human law." 

It never did occur to us, that the paupers had 
the best right to all the farms, until we saw this 
new application of the Higher Law. But 'tis clear 
as noon-day, if you grant the Higher Law, as ex- 
pounded by Mr. Seward; and we expect soon to 
hear that they are bringing their titles into court. 
Anti-rentism looked this way, and anti-rentism 
chose its own Governor and Judges. 

But Mr. Garrison outbids Mr. Smith all hollow 
for the pauper vote. He promises not only to 
every one his "vine and fig-tree," but a vine and 
fig-tree that will bear fruit without culture. He is 
going to get up a terrestrial paradise, in which 
there will be no jails, no taxes, no labor, no want, 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 309 

no sickness, no pain, no government — in fact, no 
anything. But he shall speak for himself. We find 
the folloAving in the Liberator of 1st August : 

^^ Indeed, properly speaking, there is but one govern- 
ment, and that is not human, but divine ; there is but 
one law, and that is Uhe Higher Law/ there is but 
one ruler, and that one is Grod, ^ in whom we five and 
move, and have our being/ What is called human gov- 
ernment is usurpation, imposture, demagoguism, pecula- 
tion, swindling, and tyranny, more or less, according to 
circumstances, and to the intellectual and moral condition 
of the people. Unquestionably, every existing govern- 
ment on earth is to be overthrown by the growth of 
mind and moral regeneration of the masses. Absolutism, 
limited monarchy, democracy — all are sustained by the 
sword; all are based upon the doctrine, that ^ Might 
makes right;' all are intrinsically inhuman, selfish, clan- 
nish, and opposed to a recognition of the brotherhood of 
man. They are to liberty, what whiskey, brandy and 
gin are to temperance. They belong to the ^ Kingdoms 
of this World,' and in due time are to be destroyed by 
the Brightness of the coming of Him, ^ whose right it is 
to reign ;' and by the erection of a Kingdom which can- 
not be shaken. They are not for the people, but make 
the people their prey; they are hostile to all progress; 
they resist to the utmost all radical changes. All his- 
tory shows that Liberty, Humanity, Justice and Bight 
have ever been in conflict with existing governments, no 
matter what their theory or form.'' 



310 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

Mr. Greelj's Phalansteries, Mr. Andrews' Free 
Love, Mr. Goodell's Millenium, and Mr. Smith's 
Agrarianism, all pale before this Kingdom of Mr. 
Garrison's. He is King of the Abolitionists, Great 
Anarch of the North. 

We cannot reconcile this millennial doctrine of 
Mr. Garrison's with another doctrine, which we 
have seen imputed to him in the Richmond Exam- 
iner, to wit, that there is no God, because no be- 
neficent Creator would have so constituted mankind 
as to have made slavery almost universal. Now, 
assume, as he does, that slavery is a cruel, sinful 
and wicked institution, destructive alike of human 
happiness and well-being, and his conclusion is irre- 
sistible. To be consistent, all anti-slavery men 
should be atheists. Ere long, we suspect, their 
consistency will equal their folly and profanity. 

With us, who think slavery a benevolent institu- 
tion, equally necessary to protect the weak, and to 
govern the wicked and the ignorant, its prevalence 
is part of that order and adaptation of the universe 
that ''lifts the soul from Nature up to Nature's 
God." 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 311 



CHAPTER XXV. 

IN WHAT ANTI-SLAVERY ENDS. 

Mr. Carlyle very properly contends that aboli- 
tion and all the other social movements of the day, 
propose little or no government as the moral pana- 
cea that is to heal and save a suffering world. 
Proudhon expressly advocates anarchy ; and Ste- 
phen Pearl Andrews, the ablest of American soci- 
alistic and abolition philosophers, elaborately at- 
tacks all existing social relations, and all legal and 
governmental restraints, and proposes No-Govern- 
ment as their substitute. He is the author of the 
Free Love experiment in New York, and a co- 
laborer and eulogist of similar experiments in vil- 
lages or settlements in Ohio, Long Island and other 
places in the North and Northwest. He is a fol- 
lower of Josiah Warren, who was associated with 
Owen of Lanark at New Harmony. We do not 
know that there is any essential difference between 
his system and that which has been for many years 
past practically carried out in Oneida county, New 
York, by the Perfectionists, who construe the Bible 
into authority for the unrestrained indulgence of 
every sensual appetite. The doctrines of Fourier, 
of Owen and Fanny Wright, and the other early 



312 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

Socialists, all lead to No-Government and Free 
Love. 'Tis probable they foresaw and intended 
this result, but did not suggest or propose it to a 
"world then too wicked and unenlightened to appre- 
ciate its beatific purity and loveliness. The mate- 
rials, as well as the proceedings of the infidel, wo- 
man's rights, negro's rights, free-every thing and 
anti-every school, headed and conducted in Boston, 
by Garrison, Parker, Phillips, and their associate 
women and negroes, show that they too are busy 
with ''assiduous wedges" in loosening the whole 
frame of society, and preparing for the glorious 
advent of Free Love and No-Government. All 
the Infidel and Abolition papers in the North be- 
tray a similar tendency. The Abolitionists of New 
York, headed by Gerrit Smith and Wm. Goodell, 
are engaged in precisely the same projects, but 
being Christians, would dignify Free Love and No- 
Government with the appellation of a Millenium. 
Probably half the Abolitionists at the North expect 
a great social revolution soon to occur by the ad- 
vent of the Millenium. If they would patiently 
await that event, instead of attempting to get it 
up themselves, their delusions, however ridiculous, 
might at least be innocuous. But these progres- 
sive Christian Socialists differ not at all from the 
Infidel Socialists of Boston. They are equally 
intent and busy in pulling down the priesthood, 
and abolishing or dividing all property — seeing 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 313 

that whether the denouement be Free Love or a 
Millenium, the destruction of all existing human 
relations and human institutions is pre-requisite to 
their full fruition. 

Many thousand as have been of late years the 
social experiments attempting to practice commu- 
nity of property, of wives, children, &c., and nu- 
merous as the books inculcating and approving such 
practices, yet the existence and growth of Mormon- 
ism is of itself stronger evidence than all other of 
the tendency of modern free society towards No- 
Government and Free Love. In the name of poly- 
gamy, it has practically removed all restraints to 
the intercourse of sexes, and broken up the Family. 
It promises, too, a qualified community of property 
and a fraternal association of labor. It beats up 
monthly thousands of recruits from free society in 
Europe and America, but makes not one convert in 
the slaveholding South. Slavery is satisfied and 
conservative. Abolition, finding that all existing 
legal, religious, social and governmental institu- 
tions restrict liberty and occasion a quasi slavery, 
is resolved not to stop short of the subversion of 
all those institutions, and the inauguration of Free 
Love and No-Government. The only cure for all 
this is for free society sternly to recognize slavery 
as right in principle, and necessary in practice, 
with more or less of modification, to the very exist- 
14 



314 CANNIBALS ALL; OK, 

ence of government, of property, of religion, and 
of social existence. 

We shall not attempt to reconcile the doctrines of 
the Socialists, which propose to remove all legal re- 
straints, with their denunciations of Political Eco- 
nomy. Let Alone is the essence of Political Eco- 
nomy and the whole creed of most of the Social- 
ists. The Political Economists, Let Alone, for a fair 
fight, for universal rivalry, antagonism, competition 
and cannibalism. They say, the eating up the 
weaker members of society, the killing them out 
by capital and competition, will improve the breed 
of men and benefit society. They foresee the con- 
sequences of their doctrine, and are consistent. 
Hobbes saw men devouring one another, under 
their system, two hundred years ago, and we all 
see them similarly engaged now. The Socialists 
promise that when society is wholy disintegrated 
and dissolved, by inculcating good principles and 
"singing fraternity over it," all men will co-ope- 
rate, love, and help one another. 

They place men in positions of equality, rivalry, 
and antagonism, which must result in extreme sel- 
fishness of conduct, and yet propose this system as 
a cure for selfishness. To us their reasonings seem 
absurd. 

Yet the doctrines so prevalent with Aboli- 
tionists and Socialists, of Free Love and Free 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 315 

Lands, Free Churches, Free Women and Free 
Negroes — of No-Marriage, No-Religion, No-Pri- 
vate Property, No-Law and No-Government, are 
legitimate deductions, if not obvious corollaries 
from the leading and distinctive axiom of political 
economy — Laissez Faire, or let alone. 

All the leading Socialists and Abolitionists of 
the North, we think^ agree with Fanny Wright, 
that the gradual changes which have taken place in 
social organization from domestic slavery to prsedial 
serfdom and thence to the present system of free 
and competitive society, have been mere transitive 
states, each placing the laborer in a worse condition 
than that of absolute slavery, yet valuable as pre- 
paring the way for a new and more perfect social 
state. They value the present state of society the 
more highly because it is intolerable, and must the 
sooner usher in a Millenium or Utopia. 



316 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

CHRISTIAN MORALITY IMPRACTICABLE IN FREE SO- 
CIETY—BUT THE NATURAL MORALITY OF SLAVE 
SOCIETY. 

It is strange that theories, self-evidently true so 
soon as suggested, remain undiscovered for cen- 
turies. What more evident, obvious, and axiomatic, 
than that equals must from necessity be rivals, an- 
tagonists, competitors, and enemies. Self-preserva- 
tion, the first law of human and animal nature, 
makes this selfish course of action essential to pre- 
serve existence. It is almost equally obvious, that 
in the natural, social, or family state, unselfishness, 
or the preference of others' good and happiness, is 
the dictate of nature and policy. Nature impels 
the father and husband to self-abnegation and self- 
denial to promote the happiness of wife and chil- 
dren, because his reflected enjoyments will be a 
thousand times greater than any direct pleasure he 
can derive by stinting or maltreating them. Their 
misery and their complaints do much more to ren- 
der him wretched than what he has denied them can 
compensate for. Wife and children, too, see and feel 
that in denying themselves and promoting the hap- 
piness of the head of the family, they pursue true 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 817 

policy, and are most sensibly selfish when they seem 
most unselfish. Especially, however, is it true with 
slaves and masters, that to " do as they would be 
done by" is mutually beneficial. Good treatment 
and proper discipline renders the slave happier, 
healthier, more valuable, grateful, and contented. 
Obedience, industry and loyalty on the part of 
the slave, increases the master's ability and disposi- 
tion to protect and take care of him. The in- 
terests of all the members of a natural family, 
slaves included, are identical. Selfishness finds no 
place, because nature, common feelings and self- 
interest dictate to all that it is their true interest 
" to love their neighbor as themselves," and "to do 
as they would be done by," — at least, within the 
precincts of the family. To throw ofi" into the 
world wife, children, and slaves, would injure, not 
benefit them. To neglect to punish children or 
slaves when they deserved it, would not be to do as 
we would be done by. Such punishment is gene- 
rally the highest reach of self-abnegation and self- 
control. 'Tis easy and agreeable to be indulgent 
and remiss — hard to exact and enforce duty. Se- 
vere disciplinarians are the best officers, teachers, 
parents, and masters, and most revered and loved 
by their subordinates. They sacrifice their time 
and their feelings to duty, and for the ultimate good 
of others. Easy, lax, indulgent men are generally 
selfish and sensual, and justly forfeit the respect 
and affection of those whom they neglect to punish. 



318 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

because to do so would disturb their Epicurean re- 
pose. Christian morality is neither difficult nor 
unnatural where dependent, family, and slave rela- 
tions exist, and Christian morality was preached 
and only intended for such. 

The whole morale of free society is, *' Every man, 
woman and child for himself and herself." Slave- 
ry in every form must be abolished. Wives must 
have distinct, separate, and therefore antagonistic 
and conflicting interests from their husbands, and 
children must as soon as possible be remitted to the 
rights of manhood. Is it not passing strange, won- 
derful, that such men as Channing and Wayland 
did not see that their world of universal liberty was 
a world of universal selfishness, discord, competi- 
tion, rivalry, and war of the wits. Hobbes did see 
it, and supposing there was no other world, said ''a 
state of nature was a state of war." But the fam- 
ily, including slaves, which the Abolitionists would 
destroy, has been almost universal, and is therefore 
natural. Christian morality is the natural morality 
in slave society, and slav^e society is the only natu- 
ral society. Such society as that of the early Pa- 
triarchs of Judea, under Moses and Joshua, and as 
that of the South, would never beget a sceptic, a 
Hobbes, a Wayland, nor a Channing. In such so- 
ciety it is natural for men to love one another. The 
ordinary relations of men are not competitive and 
antagonistic as in free society ; and selfishness is 
not general, but exceptionable. Duty to self is the 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 819 

first of duties : free society makes it the only duty. 
Man is not naturally selfish or bad, for he is natu- 
rally social. Free society dissociates him, and 
makes him bad and selfish from necessity. 

It is said in Scripture, that it is harder for a rich 
man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a 
camel to pass through the eye of a needle. We 
are no theologian ; but do know from history and 
observation that wealthy men who are sincere and 
devout Christians in free society, feel at a loss what 
to do with their wealth, so as not to make it an in- 
strument of oppression and wrong. Capital and 
skill are powers exercised almost always to oppress 
labor. If you endow colleges, you rear up cunning, 
voracious exploitators to devour the poor. If you 
give it to tradesmen or land owners, 'tis still an ad- 
ditional instrument, always employed to oppress 
laborers. If you give it to the really needy, you too 
often encourage idleness, and increase the burdens 
of the working poor who support every body. We 
cannot possibly see but one safe way to invest 
wealth, and that is to buy slaves with it, whose con- 
duct you can control, and be sure that your charity 
is not misapplied, and mischievous. 

Is there any other safe way of investing wealth, 
or bestowing charity ? We regret that delicacy re- 
strains us from putting the question to a celebrated 
wealthy philanthropist of the North, who- is candid, 
bold, experienced, and an Abolitionist to boot. 



320 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

SLAVERY— ITS EFFECTS ON THE FREE. 

It; 

Beaten at every other quarter, we learn that a 
distinguished writer at the North, is about to be put 
forward by the Abolitionists, to prove that the influ- 
ence of slavery is deleterious on the whites who 
own no slaves. 

Now, at first view it elevates those whites ; for it 
makes them not the bottom of society, as at the 
North — not the menials, the hired day laborer, the 
work scavengers and scullions — but privileged citi- 
zens, like Greek and Roman citizens, with a nume- 
rous class far beneath them. In slave society, one 
white man does not lord it over another; for all 
are equal in privilege, if not in wealth ; and the 
poorest would not become a menial — hold your horse, 
and then extend his hand or his hat for a gra- 
tuity, were you to proffer him the wealth of the 
Indies. The menial, the exposed and laborious, and 
the disgraceful occupations, are all filled by slaves. 
But filled they must be by some one, and in free 
society, half of its members are employed in occupa- 
tions that are not considered or treated as respecta- 
ble. Our slaves till the land, do the coarse and 
hard labor on our roads and canals, sweep our 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 321 

streets, cook our food, brush our boots, wait on our 
tables, hold our horses, do all hard work, and fill 
all menial offices. Your freemen at the North do 
the same work and fill the same offices. The only 
difference is, we love our slaves, and we are ready 
to defend, assist and protect them ; you hate and 
fear your white servants, and never fail, as a moral 
duty, to screw down their wages to the lowest, and 
to starve their families, if possible, as evidence of 
your thrift, economy and management — the only 
English and Yankee virtues. 

In free society, miscalled freemen fulfill all the 
offices of slaves for less wages than slaves, and are 
infinitely less liked and cared for by their superiors 
than slaves. Does this elevate them and render 
them happy ? 

The trades, the professions, the occupations that 
pay well, and whose work is light, is reserved for 
freemen in slave society. Does this depress them? 

The doctor, the lawyer, the mechanic, the den- 
tist, the merchant, the overseer, every trade and 
profession, in fact, live from the proceeds of slave 
labor at the South. They divide the profits with 
the owner of the slaves. He has nothing to pay 
them except what his slaves make. But you Yan- 
yees and Englishmen more than divide the profits — 
you take the lion's share. You make more money 
from our cotton, and tobacco, and sugar, and indigo, 
and wheat, and corn, and rice, than we make our- 



322 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

selves. You live by slave labor — would perish with- 
out it — yet you abuse it. Cut off England and New 
England from the South American, East and West 
India and our markets, from which to buy their food, 
and in which to sell their manufactures, and they 
would starve at once. You live by our slave labor. 
It elevates your whites as well as ours, by confining 
them, in a great degree, to skillful, well-paying, 
light and intellectual employments — and it feeds 
and clothes them. Abolish slavery, and you will 
suffer vastly more than we, because we have all the 
lands of the South, and can command labor as you do, 
and a genial soil and climate, that require less labor. 
But while in the absence of slavery, we could sup- 
port ourselves, we should cease to support you. We 
would neither send you food and clothing, nor buy 
your worse than useless notions. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 323 



CHAPTER XXYIII. 

PRIVATE PROPERTY DESTROYS LIBERTY AND 
EQUALITY. 

The Abolitionists and Socialists, who, alone, have 
explored the recesses of social science, well under- 
stand that thej can never establish their Utopia 
until private property is abolished or equalized. 
The man without property is theoretically, and, too 
often, practically, without a single right. Air and 
water, 'tis generally believed, are the common pro- 
perty of mankind ; but nothing is falser in fact as 
well as theory. The ownership of land gives to 
the proprietor the exclusive right to every thing 
above and beneath the soil. The lands are all ap- 
propriated, and with them the air above them, the 
waters on them, and the mines beneath them. The 
pauper, to breathe the air or drink the waters, 
must first find a place where he may rightfully en- 
joy them. He can find, at all times, no such place, 
and is compelled, by his necessities, to inhale the 
close and putrid air of small rooms, damp cellars 
and crowded factories, and to drink insufiicient 
quantities of impure water, furnished to him at a 



324 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

price he can ill aiford. He pays for the water 
which he drinks, because it has ceased to be com- 
mon property. He is not free, because he has no 
where that he may rightfully lay his head. Private 
property has monopolized the earth, and destroyed 
both his liberty and equality. He has no security 
for his life, for he cannot live without employment 
and adequate wages, and none are bound to employ 
him. If the earth were in common, he could 
always enjoy not only air and water, but by his in- 
dustry might earn the means of subsistence. His 
situation is theoretically and practically desperate 
and intolerable. Were he a slave, he would enjoy 
in fact as well as in legal fiction, all necessary and 
essential rights. Pure air and water, a house, suffi- 
cient food, fire, and clothing, would be his at all 
times. Slavery is a form of communism, and as 
the Abolitionists and Socialists have resolved to 
adopt a new social system, we recommend it to 
their consideration. The manner in which the 
change shall be made from the present form of so- 
ciety to that system of communism which we pro- 
pose is very simple. Negro slaves are now worth 
seven hundred dollars a-head. As whites work 
harder, they are worth about a thousand. Make 
the man who owns a thousand dollars of capital the 
guardian (the term master is objectionable) of one 
white pauper of average value ; give the man who 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 325 

is ^Yorth ten thousand dollars ten paupers, and the 
millionaire a thousand. This would be an act of 
simple mercy and justice ; for the capitalists now live 
entirely by the proceeds of poor men's labor, which 
capital enables them to command; and they com- 
mand and enjoy it in almost the exact proportions 
which we have designated. Thus, a family of poor 
laborers, men, women and children, ten in number, 
can support themselves, and make about six hun- 
dred dollars, for their employer, which is the in- 
terest on ten thousand. They would work no 
harder than they do now, would be under no 
greater necessity to work, would be relieved of 
most of the cares of life, and let into the enjoy- 
ment of all valuable and necessary rights. What 
would they lose in liberty and equality? Just 
nothing. Having more rights, they would have 
more liberty than now, and approach nearer to 
equality. It might be, that their security and ex- 
emption from care would render their situation pre- 
ferable to that of their employers. We suspect it 
would be easier to find wards or slaves than guar- 
dians or masters — for the gain would be all on the 
laborer's side, and the loss all on that of the capi- 
talist. 

Set your miscalled free laborers actually free, by 
giving them enough property or capital to live on, 
and then call on us at the South to free our negroes. 



326 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

At present, you Abolitionists know our negro slaves 
are much the freer of the two ; and it would be a 
great advance towards freeing your laborers, to 
give them guardians, bound, like our masters, to 
take care of them, and entitled, in consideration 
thereof, to the proceeds of their labor. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 327 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE NATIONAL ERA AN EXCELLENT WITNESS. 

In an article in the JEra of August 16, 1855, 
criticising and denying our theory of the Failure of 
Free Society, the writer begins by asserting, " We 
demonstrated, last week, from history, that the 
condition of the poor of England has greatly im- 
proved in modern times, as they have become free 
from the restraints of feudal bondage." He then 
goes on to criticise us, but, before concluding, con- 
tradicts and refutes his work of the week before, 
and adopts our theory in its fullest extent. He 
admits the intolerable exploitation and oppression 
of capital over labor, but looks forward to the day 
when it will be corrected. He is, like all Aboli- 
tionists, agrarian. He holds our doctrine, too, that 
the serfs were set free to starve, not because lib- 
erty was a good or a boon. He further holds, that 
the poor laborers could not get masters if they 
wanted them, because the rich can get their labor 
on better terms. Thus he distinctly shows that 
Free Society has failed, and why it has failed. 
We know very well the rich of Western Europe 
would not willingly take the poor as slaves, but the 



328 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

law should compel them to do so ; for that is the 
only feasible system of agrarianism, the only prac- 
ticable way of letting in all men to a sufficient, if 
not equal, enjoyment of terra matre. Here is his 
refutation of himself, and confirmation of our theo- 
ry, which he thinks he is upsetting. We never 
take up an abolition paper without finding doctrines 
like those of the Era, and only adduce it as a 
specimen : 

''Under despotic and corrupt governments, which op- 
press the people with taxes, to support extravagant mis- 
rule and unnecessary war — which debauch them by evil 
example of those in high places, and discourage educa- 
tion or render it impossible — the condition of the poor 
and nominally free becomes truly deplorable. But it is 
not Freedom which is their undoing — it is rather the 
lack of it. It is their subjection, through ignorance, to 
bad rulers, which keeps them in poverty. We know 
that the claim laid by capital to the lion's share of profits 
■ is itself, under any circumstances, a great obstruction to 
the progress of the masses ; but we believe that even that 
obstacle will one day be removed— that problem in politi- 
cal science be solved by civilization and Christianity. 
We believe that the human intellect will never, with the 
light of the Gospel to guide and inspire its efi"orts, sur- 
render to the cold and heartless reign of capital over 
labor. But, at any rate, one thing is certain, under the 
worst form of government, or the best, namely : when 
Freedom becomes a burden and a curse to the poor, 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 829 

Slavery — that is to say, the enslavement of the mass of 
laborers, with responsibility on the part of the master for 
their support — is no longer possible. When freemen are 
unable to support themselves, among all the diversified 
employments of free societies, it would he impossible for 
them to find masters willing to take the responsibility. 
The masses in Europe, in fact, owe their liberty to the 
excessive supply of slave labor, which, when it becomes 
a burden to the land, was cast aside as worthless. Who 
believes that Irish landlords would take the responsibility 
of supporting the peasantry, on the condition of their 
becoming slaves ? In fact, is it not notorious that they 
help them to emigrate to America, and often pull down 
their cabins and huts, in order to drive them ofi"?^' 

In further proof of the agrarian doctrines of the 
Abolitionists, we add an article from the Northern 
Christian Advocate, a clever Methodist paper, ed- 
ited in the State of New York : 

"Factory Operatives. — There is a class of laborers, 
consisting of men, women and children, whom we never 
contemplate but with regret — we see them, at least, in 
imagination, subsiding, in spite of all their care, into 
utter dependence and poverty. Hence, we never look 
upon a factory or large manufacturing establishment with 
unmingled pleasure. The men and women, who ply its 
machinery, are too apt to become identified with such 
establishments in an improper degree. This process of 
assimilation and identification goes on slowly, but surely, 
till at last the individual and the factory are so blended 



330 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

into one, that a separate existence is impossible. One or 
two generations are required to bring about this state of 
things. Pecuniary dependence, ignorance of other em- 
ployments, physical malformation, and the general help- 
lessness of a mere factory population, are not the work of 
a day. Individuals cannot be detached from other pur- 
suits at once — cannot have manufacturing knowledge 
and no other knowledge until they have had time to drift 
away from other occupations. But however retarded the 
effect, it is sure to follow, and consequently every large 
mechanical establishment must be considered as having 
certain malign tendencies, which are to be carefully 
guarded against. 

'' The causes of the evil under consideration are very 
obvious, as is also their appropriate remedy. We must 
set down as the first and principal cause of injury, the 
fact that the capital which sustains mechanical business 
is not under the control of the operatives. The mills or 
machines may stop at any hour in spite of the wants or 
wishes of the employees. Wages may be put down, little 
or much, with or without notice. Operatives are not 
consulted in such cases. The motive may be good or 
bad — it may be to guard against bankruptcy, or to amass 
wealth from the sinews of a toiling, dependent race. 
But, whatever the motive and the decision, the operative 
is helpless — he can control neither the one nor the other. 
It is his to labor ; others are charged with the regulation 
of prices, and the only check in his power is the preca- 
rious one of a strike. Strikes in business are like insur- 
rections in civil governments — a last, desperate remedy, 
and as often fatal to the sufferer as protective of his in- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 331 

terests. The same is true of the farmer who does not 
own the soil on which he labors, but is compelled to 
make terms with a landlord. Hence, the well known in- 
surmountable evils of agricultural tenantry. In Europe 
it has produced serfdom and feudalism, besides a good 
deal of servitude and degradation concealed under the 
mild name of peasant. It matters not what the occupa- 
tion may be, as soon as the laborer becomes thoroughly 
dependent, and feels that dependence, the system does 
him an incalculable injury. It is for this reason that 
large landholders always deteriorate the population, and 
society becomes worthless just in proportion as the means 
of independent existence pass from the hands of the many 
to the few. This difficulty is, and must be forever in 
the way of conducting manufacturing establishments on 
the present plan. Perhaps some means of diffusing 
capital among operatives, or, what is the same, of giving 
the laborer reasonable securities, may yet be discovered; 
but the change would require to be radical. The mono- 
poly of capital, is so nearly like the monopoly of land, 
that we may readily see no partial measures can ever 
effect a cure/' 



332 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 



CHAPTER XXX. 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ISMS— SHEWING WHY THEY 
ABOUND AT THE NORTH, AND ARE UNKNOWN AT 
THE SOUTH. 

The exploitation, or unjust exactions of skill and 
capital in free society, excite the learned and phi- 
lanthropic to devise schemes of escape, and impel 
the laborers to adopt those schemes, however chi- 
merical, because they feel that their situation can- 
not be worsted. They are already slaves without 
masters, and that is the bathos of human misery. 
Besides, universal liberty has disintegrated and dis- 
solved society, and placed men in isolated, selfish, 
and antagonistic positions — in which each man is 
compelled to wrong others, in order to be just to 
himself. But man's nature is social, not selfish, 
and he longs and yearns to return to parental, fra- 
ternal and associative relations. All the isms concur 
in promising closer and more associative relations, 
in establishing at least a qualified community of 
property, and in insuring the weak and unfortunate 
the necessaries and comforts of life. Indeed, they 
all promise to establish slavery — minus, the master 
and the overseer. As the evils which we have de- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 333 

scribed are little felt at the South, men here would 
as soon think of entering the lion's cage, as going 
into one of their incestuous establishments. Mor- 
monism is only a monster development of the isms. 
They are all essentially alike, and that the most 
successful, because, so far, it has been socialism — 
plus the overseer. The mantle of Joe Smith de- 
scended on Brigham Young, and if he transmit to 
a true prophet, there is no telling how long the 
thing may work. Mormonism had its birth in 
Western New York, that land fertile of isms — 
where also arose Spiritual Kappings and Oneida 
Perfectionism — where Shakers, and Millenarians, 
and Millerites abound, and all heresies do most 
flourish. Mormonism now is daily gathering thou- 
sands of recruits from free society in Europe, Asia, 
Africa, and our North, and not one from the South. 
It has no religion, but in place of it, a sensual 
moral code, that shocks the common sense of pro- 
priety. But it holds property somewhat in com- 
mon, draws men together in closer and more frater- 
nal relations, and promises (probably falsely) a safe 
retreat and refuge from the isolated and inimical 
relations, the killing competition and exploitation, 
of free society. All the other isms do the same — 
but mal-administration, or the want of a master, 
soon explodes them. We saw last year an adver- 
tisement, under the hammer, of the last of fourteen 
phalansteries, established at the North on the Gree- 



384 



CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 



Ij-Fourierite plan. The Sliakers do better; but 
Mr. S. P. Andrews, who is an expert, informs us 
that thej, like the Mormons, have a despotic head. 
Socialism, with such despotic head, approaches very 
near to Southern slavery, and gets along very well 
so long as the despot lives. Mr. S. P. Andrews 
should enlighten the public as to the progress of 
the Free Love villages of Trialville, in Ohio, Modern 
Zion, on Long Island, &c. " Self-elected despot- 
ism" is his theory of the perfection of society. 
Has any Cromwell, or Napoleon, or Joe Smith, 
seized the sceptre in those delightful villages, which 
we hope will soon inspire the pen of some Northern 
Bocaccio. Human opinion advances in concentric 
circles. Abolition swallows up the little isms, and 
Socialism swallows up Abolition. Socialism long 
since attained the point of the circle most distant 
from slavery, and is now rapidly coming round to 
the point whence it started — that is, to slavery. 
Mr. Andrews, who is no humbug, (except in so far 
as any philosopher is a humbug,) Mr. Andrews, 
who is probably the foremost thinker in America, 
could, if he would, prove to the Abolitionists and 
Socialists, that after a furious day's drive, like that 
of Toby Lumpkin and his mother, they are just 
about to haul up at the horse pond, in a few yards 
of the place where they started in the morning. 
The Socialists, Louis Napoleon included, are trying 
to establish slavery, whilst abusing the word. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 335 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

DEFICIENCY OF FOOD IN FREE SOCIETY. 

The normal state of free society is a state of 
famine. Agricultural labor is the most arduous, 
least respectable, and worst paid of all labor. Na- 
ture and philosophy teach all who can to avoid and 
escape from it, and to pursue less laborious, more 
respectable, and more lucrative employments. None 
work in the field who can help it. Hence free soci- 
ety is in great measure dependent for its food and 
clothing on slave society. Western Europe and 
New England get their cotton, sugar, and much of 
their bread and meat from the South, from Cuba, 
Russia, Poland and Turkey. After all, the mass of 
their population suffers continual physical want. 
McCulloch informs us in his edition of Adam 
Smith, "that the better sort of Irish laborers eat 
meat once a month, or once in six months ; the low- 
est order never. The better class of English la- 
borers eat meat twice or three times a week." Now 
no Southern negro would believe this if you were 
to swear to it. Yet it is a very favorable account 
of those laborers. The Irish rarely eat bread, and 
the English peasantry have wholly inadequate al- 



336 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

lowance of it. On the Continent, the peasantry 
generally live on fruits, nuts and olives, and other 
things, which our slaves do not seek as food at all, 
but as mere condiments to give a relish to their 
meat and bread. Agriculture is the proper pursuit 
of slaves, to be superintended and directed, how- 
ever, by freemen. Its profits are inadequate to the 
support of separate families of laborers, especially 
of white laborers in cold climates, whose wants are 
greater than those of negroes at the South. The 
expenses of families are greatly lessened where 
slavery associates a large number under a common 
head, or master, and their labor is rendered more 
efficient and productive. 

This is the great idea of the Socialists, and it is 
a truer one than the " every-man-for-himself " doc- 
trine of the political economists. Free society is in 
great measure fed and clothed by slave society, 
which it pays for in worthless baubles, fashionable 
trifles, and deleterious luxuries ; — without which, 
slave society would do much better- Every one 
should study the census of the Union, in order to 
see how dependent the North-east is on slave labor, 
and how trifling are her agricultural products. 

The profits of slave farming enure chiefly to the 
advantage of Western Europe and our North. 
Practical men, therefore, at the North, so far from 
going to work to abolish slavery, are bringing daily 
a larger supply of slaves into the slave market. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 337 

than ever was brought before. Add the Coolies of 
Asia and apprentices from Africa to the old negro 
slave trade, and the annual supply of new slaves 
exceeds by far that of any other period. 

The Abolitionists will probably succeed in dis- 
solving the Union, in involving us in civil and fra- 
tricidal war, and in cutting off the North from its 
necessary supply of food and clothing ; but they 
should recollect that whilst they are engaged in this 
labor of love, Northern and English merchants are 
rapidly extending and increasing slavery, by open- 
ing daily new markets for the purchase and sale of 
Coolies, apprentices and Africans. 

The foreign slave trade is not necessary for the 
supply of the slave markets. The increase of the 
present slaves, if humanely treated, would suffice to 
meet that demand. But Africans and Coolies cost 
less than the rearing of slaves in America, and the 
trade in them, whenever carried on, induces masters 
to work their old slaves to death and buy new ones 
from abroad. 

The foreign slave trade, especially the Cooley trade, 
is the most inhuman pursuit in which man ever en- 
gaged. Equally inhuman to the victims which it 
imports, and to the old slaves, whose treatment and 
condition it renders intolerably cruel. By directing 
philanthropy and public opinion in a false direction, 
the Abolitionists have become the most efficient 
propagandists of slavery and the slave trade. And 
15 



338 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

slavery, sucli as it exists in pursuance of the for- 
eign slave trade, shocks our sense of humanity 
quite as much as that of the most [sensitive Abo- 
litionists. 

Since writing thus far, we met with the following 
in the Charleston Mercury : 

" Wheat in Massachusetts. — The deficiency in the 
production of wheat in Massachusetts alone, in 1855, for 
the consumption of her inhabitants, was 3,915,550 bush- 
els ; and of Indian corn, 3,420,675 bushels, (witlwut at- 
loioing any thing for the corisumjption of corn hy cattle.) 

^'In 1850, the deficiency in the production of wheat 
in all the New England States, was equal to 1,091,502 
barrels of flour ] and to 3,464,675 bushels of corn, (ivith- 
out allowing any thing for the consumption hy cattle.^ 

^' This is 327,185 barrels more than was exported of 
domestic flour from all of the United States to foreign 
countries during the year ending 30th June, 1855, and 
87,000 more barrels than was exported both of domestic 
and foreiorn flour from the United States for the same 

o 

period/' 

We conclude, from our examination of the cen- 
sus, that the grain and potatoes made in New Eng- 
land would about feed her cattle, horses, hogs and 
sheep — leaving none for her inhabitants. We late- 
ly compared carefully the census of Massachusetts 
and North Carolina, and found, in round numbers, 
that according to population, North Carolina pro- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 339 

duced annually ten times as much of human food as 
Massachusetts, — but that Massachusetts balanced 
the account by producing annually ten times as 
many paupers and criminals as North Carolina. 
We also discover that the want of food in tlie one 
State and its abundance in the other, tells on the 
duration of human life. The mortality in Massa- 
chusetts is nearly double that in North Carolina. 
"We infer that there is ten times as much of human 
happiness in North Carolina as in ^lassachusetts. 
The census gives no account of the infidels and the 
isms — of them there are none in North Carolina, 
and Massachusetts may boast that she rivals Ger- 
many, France and Western New York in their 
production. 

Really, it is suicidal folly in New England to talk 
of disunion and setting up for herself. She does 
not possess the elements of separate nationality. 
She is intelligent and wealthy ; but her wealth is 
cosmopolitan — her poverty indigenous. Her com- 
merce, her manufactures, and moneyed capital, con- 
stitute her wealth. Disunion would make these use- 
less and unprofitable at home, and they would 
be transferred immediately to other States and 
Nations. 

North Carolina might well set up for herself, for 
she can produce all the necessaries and comforts 
and luxuries of life within herself, and has Vir- 
ginia between herself and danger on the one side, 



340 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

and an inaccessible sea coast on the other. But we 
of Virginia, being a border State, would be badly 
situated in case of disunion, and mean to cling to 
it as long as honor permits. Besides, Virginia loves 
her nearest sister, Pennsylvania, and cannot bear 
the thought of parting company with her. 

Tecum vivere amem! 
Tecum obeam lubens I 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 341 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

MAN HAS PROPERTY IN MAN! 

In the Liberator of the 19th December, we ob- 
serve that the editor narrows down the slavery con- 
test to the mere question, whether " Man may 
rightfully hold property in man? " 

We think we can dispose of this objection to do- 
mestic slavery in a very few words. 

Man is a social and gregarious animal, and all 
such animals hold property in each other. Nature 
imposes upon them slavery as a law and necessity of 
their existence. They live together to aid each 
other, and are slaves under Mr. Garrison's higher 
law. Slavery arises under the higher law, and is, 
and ever must be, coeval and coextensive with hu- 
man nature. 

We will enumerate a few of its ten thousand 
modifications. 

The husband has a legally recognized property 
in his wife's services, and may legally control, in 
some measure, her personal liberty. She is his 
property and his slave. 

The wife has also a legally recognized property 
in the husband's services. He is her property, but 
not her slave. 



342 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

The father has property in the services and per- 
sons of his children till they are twenty-one years 
of age. They are his property and his slaves. 

Children have property, during infancy, in the 
services of each parent. 

Infant negroes, sick, infirm and superannuated 
negroes, hold most valuable property in the services 
and capital of their masters. The masters hold no 
property in such slaves, because, for the time, they 
are of no value. 

Ovmers and captains of vessels own property in 
the services of sailors, and may control their per- 
sonal liberty. They (the sailors) are property, and 
slaves also. 

The services and persons, lives and liberty of 
soldiers and of officers, belong to the Government ; 
they are, whilst in service, both property and 
slaves. 

Every white working man, be he clerk, carpenter, 
mechanic, printer, common laborer, or what else, 
who contracts to serve for a term of days, months, 
or years, is, for such term, the property of his em- 
ployer. He is not a slave, like the wife, child, ap- 
prentice, sailor or soldier, because, although the 
employer's right to his services be equally perfect, 
his remedy to enforce such right is very different. 
In the one case, he may resort to force to compel 
compliance ; in the other, he is driven to a suit for 
damages. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 343 

Again : Every capitalist holds property in his fel- 
low men to the extent of the profits of his capital, 
or income. The only income possibly resulting 
from capital, is the result of the property which 
capital bestows on its owners, in the labor of other 
people. In our first three chapters we attempt to 
explain this. 

All civilized society recognizes, and, in some 
measure, performs the obligation to support and 
provide for all human beings, whether natives or 
foreigners, Vr'ho are unable to provide for them- 
selves. Hence poor-houses, &c. 

Hence all men hold valuable property, actual or 
contingent, in the services of each other. 

If, Mr. Garrison, this be the only difficulty to be 
adjusted between North and South, we are sure 
that your little pet. Disunion, " living will linger, 
and lingering will die." 

When Mr. Andrews and you have quite "ex- 
pelled human nature," dissolved and disintegrated 
society, and reduced mankind to separate, indepen- 
dent, but conflicting monads, or human atoms — 
then, and not till then, will you establish the ' sove- 
reignty of the individual,' and destroy the prop- 
erty of man in man. 



344 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

THE "COUP DE GRACE" TO ABOLITION. 

The Abolitionists are all willing to admit that free 
society has utterly failed in Europe, but will assign 
two reasons for that failure — "Excess of popula- 
tion, and want of equality and liberty." 

Were the population of England doubled, the 
labor required to support that population would be 
lessened, could all labor and expenses be sup- 
ported alike; because the association and division 
of labor might be rendered more perfect, and the 
expenses of a single family, or single individual, 
might be divided among and borne by many. The 
Socialists and Abolitionists understand this. When 
one family has to support its own school, its own 
mill, its own mechanics, its own doctor, parson, &c., 
living is expensive ; but where these and other ex- 
penses are divided among many, living becomes 
cheap ; hence it is far less laborious to live in a 
densely settled country than in a sparsely settled 
one, if labor and expenses can be equally divided. 
The soil of England will readily support double its 



SLAVES WITnOUT MASTERS. 345 

population, if its products bo not wasted in luxury, 
in feeding deer, and game, and horses. England 
has not attained that density of population which 
enables men to live by the least amount of labor. 
Her laboring population has been thinned and labor 
rendered dearer and scarcer, by emigration, of late 
years, to America, California and Australia — yet, 
in the winter of 1854, there was a general outbreak 
and riot of her operatives, because a fall in prices 
occasioned a large number of her factories to stop 
work, and turn their hands out of employment. 
This happens every day in free society, from the 
bankruptcy of employers, or from the glut of 
markets and fall of prices. We will add, that a 
meeting of the working men of New York, in the 
Park, asserted that there were 50,000 working men 
and women, in that city, out of employment last 
winter. 

The competitive system (so injurious to the labor- 
ing class) is carried out with less exception or 
restriction in America than in Europe. Hence, 
considering the sparseness of our population, the 
laboring class are worse off in New York, Philadel- 
phia and Boston, than in London, Manchester or 
Paris. And this begets more Socialists in the 
higher classes, and more mobs, riots and trade- 
unions, with the laborers, than in Europe. 

Finally, if it be excess of numbers, or want of 
liberty, that occasions the failure of free society, 



346 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

■why are our Abolitionists and Socialists so hot and 
so active in upsetting and re-organizing society? 
They have pronounced, with entire unanimity, that 
free society is intolerable, whether a country be 
densely or sparsely settled. 

The Abolitionists boast, that lands are dearer 
and labor cheaper in free than in slave society. 
Either proposition contains the admission that free 
laborers work more for others and less for them- 
selves than slaves — in effect, that they are less free 
than slaves. The profits of land are what the 
land-owner appropriates of the results of work of 
the laborer. Where he appropriates most, and 
leaves the laborer least, there lands are dearest, 
labor cheapest, and laborers least free. In Europe, 
lands sell much higher than at the North ; hence, 
laborers are less free in fact than at the North. In 
the North they sell higher than in the South, be- 
cause the slaves consume more of the results of 
their own labor than laborers at the North, and 
leave less profit to the land- owner. The high price 
of land is, in the general, an unerring indication of 
the poverty and actual slavery of the laboring class. 
Its low price, equally proves that the laborers, 
whether called slaves or freemen, work more for 
themselves, and less for the land-owners, than where 
lands are dear. In settled countries, where all the 
lands are appropriated, this theory is undeniable 
and irrefutable. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 347 

As this is a short chapter, we take the opportu- 
nity to apologize and account for our discursive, 
immethodical and unartistic manner. 

In the first place, the character of the enemy 
we have to contend with prevents anything like 
regular warfare. They are divided into hundreds 
of little guerrilla bands of isms, each having its 
peculiar partizan tactics, and we are compelled to 
vary our mode of attack from regular cannonade to 
bush-fighting, to suit the occasion. 

Again, we practiced as a jury lawyer for twenty- 
five years, and thereby acquired an inveterate habit 
of cumulation and iteration, and of various argu- 
ment and illustration. But, at the same time, we 
learned how "to make out our case," and to know 
when it is "made out." The lawyer who observed 
the Unities in an argument before a jury would be 
sure to lose his cause; and now the world is our 
jury, who are going to bring in a verdict against 
free society of "guilty." 

We admire not the pellucid rivulet, that murmurs 
and meanders, in cramped and artificial current, 
through the park and gardens of the nobleman ; 
but we do admire the flooded and swollen Missis- 
sippi, whose turbid waters, in their majestic course, 
sweep along upon their bosom, with equal compo- 
sure, the occupants of the hen-roost and the poultry 
yard, the flocks, the herds, the crops, the uprooted 
forest, and the residences of man. The Exhaustive, 



348 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

not the Artistic, is wliat we would aspire to. And 
yet, the Exhaustive may be the highest art of ar- 
gument. The best mode, we think, of writing, is 
that in which facts^ and argument, and rhetoric, 
and wit, and sarcasm, succeed each other with rapid 
iteration. 

Intonuere poli, et crebris micat ignibus aether ! 

Again, Artistic execution is un-English. It 
neither suits their minds nor their tastes. Discur- 
siveness and prurient exuberancy of thought and 
suggestion, they often possess, but always fail when 
they attempt a literary or other work of Art. In- 
deed, we have a strong suspicion that Art went out 
of the world about the time the Baconian Philoso- 
phy came in. 

A continuous argument, without pause or break, 
on a subject profoundly metaphysical, equally fa- 
tigues the writer and the reader. Nobody likes it, 
and very few read it. *'Desipere in loco" is not 
only a very agreeable maxim to the author, but a 
very wise and prudent one. 

Lastly. Like Porthos, when '^we have an idea," 
we are at once seized with a feverish anxiety to 
communicate it, and we think it better to break in 
on the regular thread of our discourse, and do so 
at once, than to spoil our whole discourse by having 
our minds occupied with two subjects at a time. 

Another idea strikes us. As yet we hardly as- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 349 

pire to the dignity of authorship. We indulge in 
abandon, because, as a writer, we have no reputation 
to jeopard or to lose. But, should this book take, 
we will mount the antithetical stilts of auctorial dig- 
nity — write a book as stale and dry as "the re- 
mainder biscuit after a long voyage," and as free 
from originality, wit, thought or suggestiveness, as 
the Queen's Speech, the President's Message, or a 
debate in the United States Senate. We do not as 
yet bore the world with "respectable stupidity," 
because our position docs not authorize it. 



350 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

NATIONAL WEALTH, INDIVIDUAL WEALTH, LUXURY 
AND ECONOMY. 

It is a common theory "with political economists, 
that national wealth is but the sum of individual 
wealth, and that as individual wealth increases, na- 
tional wealth increases, pari passu. 

We think this theory false and pernicious, and 
the more so because it is plausible. 

All profit-bearing possessions or capital, tend to 
exonerate their owners from labor, and to throw 
the labor that supports society on a part only of its 
members. Now, as almost all wealth is the pro- 
duct of labor, this diminution of labor diminishes 
wealth, or, at least, increases poverty, by placing 
heavier burdens on the laboring class. 

This, however, is a very small part of the evil 
effects of individual wealth. Society requires it of 
the rich to live according to their income, to fare 
sumptuously, to have costly dress, furniture, equip- 
age, houses, &c., and to keep many servants. 

Their incomes are spent in luxuries, and thousands 
of laborers are taken off from the production of 
necessaries to produce those luxuries, or to wait on 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 351 

their owners. Thus, the burden of the support of 
society, so far as the ordinary comforts and neces- 
saries of life are concerned, are thrown on fewer and 
fewer, as private wealth and luxury increase. It 
requires a thousand pauper laborers to sustain one 
millionaire, and without them his capital will pro- 
duce no profit. This accounts for the great num- 
bers and excessive poverty of the mass in England. 
Half the boasted capital of England, probably two- 
thirds of it, is but a mortgage of the bones and 
sinews of the laborers, now and forever, to the 
capitalists. The national debt, stocks of all kinds, 
money at interest, and indeed all debts, represent 
this sort of private wealth, which is national 
poverty. 

Sumptuous houses, parks, and all establishments 
that are costly to sustain and keep up, and do not 
facilitate, but check the production of necessaries, 
are also part of private wealth, and of national 
poverty. Four-fifths of the private wealth of Eng- 
land, and half of that of our Northeast, is a severe 
tax on labor, and a constant preventive of the ac- 
cumulation of national wealth. 

Private wealth at the South consists chiefly in 
negro laborers, and improvements of land, that in- 
crease its productive capacities. Eine enclosures, 
improved stock, good granaries, and machines and 
implements for farming, comfortable negro cabins, 
good orchards, &c., are as strictly a part of nation- 



352 CANNIBALS ALL; OE, 

al, as of individual wealth. Not so with the costly 
private dwellings in our Northern cities. The ex- 
pense of building, of repairing, of furnishing, and 
of keeping servants for their owners or tenants, is 
a constant drawback from productive industry, in- 
creases the burdens of the laboring poor, and di- 
minishes national wealth. The poverty-stricken 
fields of New England are the necessary conse- 
quence of the luxurious expenditure in her cities. 
Yet that luxury is no part of national wealth, but a 
constant tax on it, whilst improved farms constitute 
almost three-fourths of all her real wealth, for 
they feed and clothe mankind. 

This is a most interesting subject ; one which we 
have not mastered, or, if we had, this work on 
which we are engaged is not the proper one for its 
full discussion and exposition. We merely throw 
out a few suggestions for the consideration of the 
thinking and ingenuous. If we are right, luxury is 
the greatest sin against society ; economy and in- 
dustry, the chiefest of social virtues. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 353 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

GOVEENMENT A THING OF FORCE, NOT OF CONSENT. 

We do not agree with the authors of the De- 
claration of Independence, that governments " de- 
rive their just powers from the consent of the 
governed." The women, the chiklren, the negroes, 
and but few of the non-property holders were con- 
sulted, or consented to the Revolution, or the gov- 
ernments that ensued from its success. As to these, 
the new governments were self-elected despotisms, 
and the governing class self-elected despots. Those 
governments originated in force, and have been 
continued by force. All governments must origin- 
ate in force, and be continued by force. The very 
term, government, implies that it is carried on 
against the consent of the governed. Fathers do 
not derive their authority, as heads of families, 
from the consent of wife and children, nor do they 
govern their families by their consent. They never 
take the vote of the family as to the labors to be 
performed, the moneys to be expended, or as to 
anything else. Masters dare not take the vote of 
slaves, as to their government. If they did, con- 
stant holiday, dissipation and extravagance would 



354 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

be the result. Captains of ships are not appointed 
by the consent of the crew, and never take their 
vote, even in "doubling Cape Horn." If they did, 
the crew would generally vote to get drunk, and 
the ship would never weather the cape. Not even 
in the most democratic countries are soldiers gov- 
erned by their consent, nor is their vote taken on 
the eve of battle. They have some how lost (or 
never had) the "inalienable rights of life, liberty 
and the pursuit of happiness ;" and, whether Ameri- 
cans or Russians, are forced into battle, without 
and often against their consent. The ancient re- 
publics were governed by a small class of adult 
male citizens, who assumed and exercised the gov- 
ernment, without the consent of the governed. The 
South is governed just as those ancient republics 
were. In the county in which we live, there are 
eighteen thousand souls, and only twelve hundred 
voters. But we twelve hundred, the governors, 
never asked and never intend to ask the consent of 
the sixteen thousand eight hundred whom we gov- 
ern. Were we to do so, we should soon have an 
"organized anarchy." The governments of Eu- 
rope could not exist a week without the positive 
force of standing armies. 

They are all governments of force, not of consent. 
Even in our North, the women, children, and free 
negroes, constitute four-fifths of the population ; and 
they are all governed without their consent. But 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 355 

they mean to correct this gross and glaring iniquity 
at the North. They hold that all men, women, and 
negroes, and smart children, are equals, and entitled 
to equal rights. The widows and free negroes be- 
gin to vote in some of those States, and they will 
have to let all colors and sexes and ages vote soon, 
or give up the glorious principles of human equality 
and universal emancipation. 

The experiment which they will make, we fear, 
is absurd in theory, and the symptoms of approach- 
ing anarchy and agrarianism among them, leave no 
doubt that its practical operation will be no better 
than its theory. Anti-rentism, " vote-myself-a- 
farm" ism, and all the other isms, are but the 
spattering drops that precede a social deluge. 

Abolition ultimates in "Consent Government;" 
Consent Government in Anarchy, Free Love, Agra- 
rianismj &c., &c., and "Self-elected despotism," 
winds up the play. 

If the interests of the governors, or governing 
class, be not conservative, they certainly will not 
conserve institutions injurious to their interests. 
There never was and never can be an old society, 
in which the immediate interests of a majority of 
human souls do not conflict with all established 
order, all right of property, and all existing institu- 
tions. Immediate interest is all the mass look to ; 
and they would be sure to revolutionize govern- 
ment, as often as the situation of the majority was 



356 CANNIBALS ALL; OB, 

worse tlian that of the minority. Divide all pro- 
perty to-day, and a year hence the inequalities of 
property would provoke a re-division. 

In the South, the interest of the governing class 
is eminently conservative, and the South is fast 
becoming the most conservative of nations. 

Already, at the North, government vibrates and 
oscillates between Radicalism and Conservatism; 
at present. Radicalism or Black Republicanism is 
in the ascendant. 

The number of paupers is rapidly increasing ; 
radical and agrarian doctrines are spreading ; the 
women and the children, and the negroes, will soon 
be let in to vote ; and then they will try the ex- 
periment of '' Consent Government and Constituted 
Anarchy." 

It is falsely said, that revolutions never go back- 
wards. They always go backwards, and generally 
farther back than where they started. The Social 
Revolution now going on at the North, must some 
day go backwards. Shall it do so now, ere it has 
perpetrated an infinitude of mischief, shed oceans 
of blood, and occasioned endless human misery ; or 
will the Conservatives of the North let it run the 
length of its leather, inflict all these evils, and then 
rectify itself by issuing into military despotism? 
We think that by a kind of alliance, offensive and 
defensive, with the South, Northern Conservatism 
may now arrest and turn back the tide of Radical- 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 357 

ism and Agrarianism. Wc will not presume to 
point out the whole means and modus operandi. 
They on the field of action will best see what is ne- 
cessary to be done. 

Whilst we hold that all government is a matter 
of force, we yet think the governing class should 
be numerous enough to understand, and so situated 
as to represent fairly, all interests. The Greek and 
Roman masters were thus situated; so were the old 
Barons of England, and so are the white citizens 
of the South. If not all masters, like Greek and 
Roman citizens, they all belong to the master race, 
have exclusive rights and privileges of citizenship, 
and an interest not to see this right of citizenship 
extended, disturbed, and rendered worthless and 
contemptible. 

Whilst the governments of Europe are more ob- 
viously kept alive and conducted by force than at 
any other period, yet are they all, from necessity, 
watchful and regardful of Public Opinion. Opinion 
now rules the world, but not as expressed through 
the ballot-box. Governments become more popular 
as they become more forcible. A large governing 
class is not apt to mistake or disregard opinion ; 
andj therefore. Republican institutions are best 
adapted to the times. Under Monarchical forms, 
the governments of Europe are daily becoming 
more Republican. The fatal error committed in 
Western Europe is, the wielding of government by 



358 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

a class who govern, but do not represent, the 
masses. Their interests and those of the masses 
are antagonistic, whilst those of masters and slaves 
are identical. 

Looking to theory, to the examples of the An- 
cient Hepublics, and to England under the Plan- 
tagenets, we shall find that Southern institutions 
are far the best now existing in the world. 

We think speculations as to constructing govern- 
ments are little worth; for all government is the 
gradual accretion of Nature, time and circumstances. 
Yet these theories have occurred to us, and, as they 
are conservative, we will suggest them. In slave- 
holding countries all freemen should vote and gov- 
ern, because their interests are conservative. In 
free states, the government should be in the hands 
of the land-owners, who are also conservative. A 
system of primogeniture, and entails of small par- 
cels of land, might, in a great measure, identify 
the interests of all ; or, at least, those who held no 
lands would generally be the children and kinsmen 
of those who did, and be taken care of by them. 
The frequent accumulation of large fortunes, and 
consequent pauperism of the masses, is the greatest 
evil of modern society. Would not small entails 
prevent this ? All cannot own lands, but as many 
should own them as is consistent with good farm- 
ing and advanced civilization. The social insti- 
tutions of the Jews, as established by Moses and 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 359 

Joshua, most nearly fulfill our ideas of perfect gov- 
ernment. 

A word, at parting, to Northern Conservatives. 
A like danger threatens North and South, proceed- 
ing from the same source. Abolitionism is maturing 
what Political Economy began. With inexorable 
sequence "Let Alone" is made to usher in No- 
Government. North and South our danger is the 
same, and our remedies, though differing in degree, 
must in character be the same. "Let Alone" must 
be repudiated, if we would have any Government. 
We must, in all sections, act upon the principle 
that the world is "too little governed." You of 
the North need not institute negro slavery ; far less 
reduce white men to the state of negro slavery. 
But the masses require more of protection, and the 
masses and philosophers equally require more of 
control. Leave it to time and circumstances to 
suggest the necessary legislation ; but, rely upon it, 
"Anarchy, plus the street constable," wont answer 
any longer. The Vigilance Committee of Califor- 
nia is but a mob, rendered necessary by the inade- 
quacy of the regular government. It is the "vis 
medicatrix naturae," vainly attempting to discharge 
the office of physician. That country is "too little 
governed," where the best and most conservative 
citizens have to resolve themselves into mobs and 
vigilance committees to protect rights which gov- 
ernment should, but does not, protect. 



360 CANNIBALS ALL; ORj 

The element of force exists probably in too small 
a degree in our Federal Government. It lias 
neither territory nor subjects. Kansas is better off; 
for she has a few citizens and a large and fertile 
territory. She is backing the Government out, if 
not whipping her. Massachusetts, too, has nullified 
her laws. Utah contemns her authority, and the 
Vigilance Committee of California sets her at sue 
cessful defiance. She is an attempt at a pa^^er con- 
sent government, without territory or citizens. 
Considered and treated as a league or treaty be 
tween separate States or Nations^ she may yet hav 
a long and useful existence ; for then those Nations 
or States, seeing that she has no means of self- 
enforcement, self-support, or self-conservation, may, 
for their mutual interests, combine to sustain and 
defend her. Heretofore, domestic weakness and 
danger from foreign foes has combined the States 
in sustaining the Union. Hereafter, the great ad- 
vantages of friendly and mutual intercourse, trade 
and exchanges, may continue to produce a like re- 
sult. But the prospects are alarming, and it is well 
that all patriots should know that the Union has 
little power to sustain and perpetuate itself. 

There are three kinds of force that occur to us 
will sustain a government. First, "inside ne- 
cessity," such as slavery, that occasions a few to 
usurp power, and to hold it forcibly, without con- 
sulting the many; secondly, the force of foreign 




SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 361 

pressure or aggression, which combines men and 
States together for common defence ; and thirdly, 
the inherent force of a prescriptive or usurpative 
government, which sustains itself by standing ar- 
mies. Such are all the governments of Western 
Europe. Kot one of them could exist forty-eight 
hours, but for the standing armies. These stand- 
ing armies became necessary and grew up as slavery 
disappeared. The old Barons kept the Canaille, 
the Proletariat, the Sans Culottes, the Nomadic 
Beggars, in order, by lashing their backs and sup- 
plying their wants. They must be fed and kept at 
work. Modern society tries to effect this (but in 
vain) by moral suasion and standing armies. Riots, 
mobs, strikes and revolutions are daily occurring. 
The mass of mankind cannot be governed by Law. 
More of despotic discretion, and less of Law, is 
what the w^orld wants. We take our leave by say- 
ing, "There is too much of Law and too little 
OF Government in this world." 

Physical force, not moral suasion, governs the 
world. The negro sees the driver's lash, becomes 
accustomed to obedient, cheerful industry, and is 
not aware that the lash is the force that impels him. 
The free citizen fulfills, "con amore," his round of 
social, political and domestic duties, and never 
dreams that the Law, with its fines and jails, peni- 
tentiaries and halters, or Public Opinion, with its 
ostracism, its mobs, and its tar and feathers, help 
IG 



362 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

to keep him revolving in his orbit. Yet, remove 
these physical forces, and how many good citizens 
would shoot, like fiery comets, from their spheres, 
and disturb society with their eccentricities and 
their crimes. 

Government is the life of a nation, and as no one 
can foresee the various future circumstances of so- 
cial, any more than of individual life, it is absurd 
to define on paper, at the birth of either the nation 
or individual, what they shall do and what not do. 
Broad construction of constitutions is as good as no 
constitution, for it leaves the nation to adapt itself 
to circumstances; but strict construction will de- 
stroy any nation, for action is necessary to national 
conservation, and constitution-makers cannot fore- 
see what action will be necessary. If individual 
or social life were passed in mere passivity, consti- 
tutions might answer. Not in a changing and 
active world. Louisiana, Florida and Texas would 
have been denied to the South under strict con- 
struction, and she would have been ruined. A 
constitution, strictly construed, is absolutely incon- 
sistent with permanent national existence. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 363 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

WARNING TO THE NORTH. 

Banquo — But 'tis strange : 

And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, 
The instruments of darkness tell us truths ; 
AVin us with honest trifles, to betray us 
In deepest consequences. Macbeth. 

The reader must have remarked our propensity 
of putting scraps of poetry at the head of our 
chapters, or of interweaving them -with the text. 
It answers as a sort of chorus or refrain, and, when 
skillfully handled, has as fine an eifect as the fiddle 
at a feastj or the brass band on the eve of an en- 
gagement. It nerves the author for greater effort, 
and inspires the reader with resolution to follow 
him in his most profound ratiocinations and airiest 
speculations. We learnt it from " our Masters in 
the art of war" when we carried their camp and 
their whole park of artillery, (which we are now 
usino; with such murderous eifect a2:uinst their own 
ranks.) We also captured their camp equipage, 
books of military strategy, &c. In them we found 
rules laid down for the famous songs, w^hich are so 
harmoniously blended with the speeches at all Infi- 
del and Abolition conventions, and Women's Rights 



364 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

and Free Love assemblages. Thej are intended to 
inspire enthusiasm, confirm conviction, and to 
"screw the courage to the sticking point." Be- 
sides, sometimes they answer admirably the oppo- 
site purpose of a sedative. Often, when Sister 
This One has, by her imprudent speech, outraged 
decency, propriety, religion and morality, and 
drawn down upon her head hisses and cries of 
"Turn her out! Turn her out!" Brother That 
One bursts forth in " strains of sweetest melody," 
and like another Orpheus quells and quiets another 
hell. Not that we intend by any means to inti- 
mate that this musical brother would play Orpheus 
throughout, and take as long and perilous a trip to 
rescue his sister as Orpheus did for Eurydice. On 
the contrary, we suspect in such contingency he 
would pray to Pluto to double bar the gates, and 
bribe Cerberus to keep closer watch. We derive 
this impression from the triangular correspondence 
of Greeley, Andrews and James, entitled "Love, 
Marriage and Divorce;" and from the actings and 
doings of the courts and legislature of Massachu- 
setts — who, from the num.ber of the divorces they 
grant, we should think could hardly find time to 
send Hiss on a visit of purification to the Convents. 
Now it may be, that sometimes, when we " have 
gone it rather strong" (as we are very apt to do,) 
and offended the reader, our scraps of poetry may 
answer the purpose of the Abolition sor^gs, and 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 865 

soothe and propitiate him. Besides, they aiford a 
sort of interlude or by-play, like that of Sancho 
where he slipped off from the flying horse, Clavi- 
leno, just as he and the Don had reached the con- 
stellation of the Goat, and went to playing with the 
little goats to relieve the giddiness of his head. I 
am sure, when we have, as we often do, mounted 
with our reader into the highest regions of meta- 
physics, that his head becomes a little giddy, (at 
least ours does,) and that he is thankful for a little 
poetry or a turn at play with our Abolition Goats. 

"Goats, indeed!" quoth Mr. G , "Lions, you 

had better say." Well, be it lions! We are no 
more afraid of you than if you were lambs ; and 
you will no sooner dare to attack us than you did 
the Knight of La Mancha when he vainly chal- 
lenged you to mortal combat. 

Let not the reader suppose that we either emulate 
the chivalry of the Don or the wisdom of his Squire. 
A Northern clime has congealed the courage of our 
lions and they are afraid of the "paper bullets of the 
brain ;" yet they are vastly fond of shooting them at 
others, provided they are sure the shot will not be 
returned. 

As for Sancho, we think him the wisest man we ever 
read after, except Solomon. Indeed, in the world of 
Fiction, all the wisdom issues from the mouths of fools 
—as witness Shakspeare's Falstaff and his fools. 
There is at least vraisemblance in all this ; for, as in 



366 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

the Real world, the philosophers (e. g. our Masters 
in the art of war) have monopolized all the follj, — 
where so likely to find the wisdom as among the fools ? 

We fear our "Little Cannibals" are growing im- 
patient, and may be, a little jealous of our seeming 
preference for our goats. They are young yet and 
require nursing. But they are young Herculeses, 
born with teeth, and if any Abolition serpents at- 
tempt to strangle them in the cradle, they'll be apt 
to get the worst of it. The danger is, however, 
that the Abolitionists will steal and adopt them — for 
they are vastly fond of young cannibals, and em- 
ploy much of their time in sewing and knitting and 
getting up subscriptions, to send shirts and trowsers 
to the little fellows away over in Africa, who as in- 
dignantly repel them as old King Lear did when 
he stripped in the storm and resolved to be his 
"unsophisticated self." 

Now, seeing that the Abolitionists are so devoted 
to the uncouth, dirty, naked little cannibals of Af- 
rica, haven't we good reason to fear that they will 
run away with and adopt ours, when they come 
forth neatly dressed in black muslin and all shining 
with gold from the master hands of Morris and 
Wynne? They will be sure at least to captivate 
the hearts of the strong-minded ladies, and if they 
will treat them well in infancy, we don't know but 
what, if they will wait till they grow up, we may 
spare them a husband or two from the number. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 367 

Mr. Morris has promised they shall be black as 
Erebus without, and white as "driven snow" within. 

If they can get over the trying time of infancy 
— if the critics don't smother them in the cradle, 
the boys will make their own way in the world, and 
get a name famous as Toussaint or Dessalines. 

To be candid with the reader, we have learned 
lately that the physique of a book is quite as im- 
portant as its metaphysique — the outside as the in- 
side. Figure, size, proportion, are all to be con- 
sulted : for books are now used quite as much for 
centre table ornaments as for reading. We have a 
marble one on our centre table that answers the 
former purpose admirably, because nobody can put 
puzzling questions about its contents. Now, we 
must write the exact amount, and no more, to en- 
able Mr. Morris and Mr. AVynne to make our book 
appear externally "comme il faut." We write this 
chapter in part for that purpose. The reader would 
not object to a page, or so, more or less of it, and 
Mr. Morris and Mr. Wynne will know how to cur- 
tail or omit, for they are not only masters of their 
own trades, but can render us valuable assistance in 
ours. 

We return to our Cannibals, with this single re- 
mark to that morose and demure reader who is snarl- 
ing at our occasional levity — "You, sir, never 
throw off your dignity ; because you would be sure 
to uncover your folly." 



368 CANNIBALS ALL ; OR, 

We warn the Nortli, that every one of the lead- 
ing Abolitionists is agitating the negro slavery- 
question merely as a means to attain ulterior ends, 
and those ends nearer home. They would not 
spend so much time and money for the mere sake of 
the negro or his master, about whom they care lit- 
tle. But they know that men once fairly commit- 
ted to negro slavery agitation^ — once committed to 
the sweeping principle, "that man being a moral 
agent, accountable to God for his actions, should 
not have those actions controlled and directed by 
the Avill of another," are, in effect, committed to 
Socialism and Communism, to the most ultra doc- 
trines of Garrison, Goodell, Smith and Andrews — 
to no private property, no church, no law, no gov- 
ernruent, — to free love, free lands, free women and 
free churches. 

There is no middle ground — not an inch of 
ground of any sort, between the doctrines which 
we hold and those which Mr. Garrison holds. If 
slavery, either white or black, be wrong in principle 
or practice, then is Mr. Garrison right — then is all 
human government wrong. 

Socialism, not Abolition, is the real object of 
Black Republicanism. The North, not the South, 
the true battle-ground. Like Fanny Wright, the 
author of American Socialism, the agitators of the 
North look upon free society as a mere transition 
state to a better, but untried, form of society. The 



SLAVES WITUOUT MASTERS. 3G9 

reader will not fully comprehend the ideas we would 
convey, without reading "England the Civilizer," 
by Miss Fanny Wright. It is worth reading, not 
only as far the best history of the British constitu- 
tion, but as the most correct and perfect analysis 
and delineation of free society — of that form of so- 
ciety which all Socialists and all thinking men agree 
cannot stand as it is. The Abolition school of So- 
cialists like it because it is intolerable — because 
they consider it a transition state to a form of so- 
ciety without law or government. Miss Wright has 
the honesty to admit, that a transition has never 
taken place, '^o', and never will take place: be- 
cause the expulsion of human nature is a pre-requi- 
site to its occurrence. 

But we solemnly warn the North, that what she 
calls a transition^ is what every leading Abolition- 
ist is moving heaven and earth to attain. This is 
their real object — negro emancipation a mere gull- 
trap. 

In the attempt to attain "transition" seas of 
gore may be shed, until military despotism comes in 
to restore peace and security. 

We (for we are a Socialist) agree with Mr. Car- 
lyle, that the action of free society must be re- 
versed. That, instead of relaxing more and more 
the bonds that bind man to man, you must screw 
them up more closely. That, instead of no govern- 
ment, you must have more government. And this 



370 CANNIBALS all; or, 

is eminently true in America, where from the na- 
ture of things, as society becomes older and popu- 
lation more dense, more of government will be 
required. To prevent the attempt at transition, 
which would only usher in revolution, you must be- 
gin to govern more vigorously. 

But we will be asked. How is this to be effected ? 
The answer is easy. The means are at hand, and 
the work is begun. 

The Democratic party, purged of its radicalism 
and largely recruited from the ranks of the old 
line Whigs, has become eminently and actively con- 
servative. It is the antipodes of the Democratic 
party of the days of Jefferson, in the grounds 
which it occupies and the opinions which it holds, 
(what it professes to hold is another thing.) Yet it 
has been a consistent party throughout. Consistent, 
in wisely and boldly adapting its action to the 
emergencies of the occasion. It is pathological, 
and practices according to prevailing symptoms. 
'Tis true, it has a mighty Nosology in its Declara- 
tion of Independence, Bills of Bights, Constitu- 
tions, Platforms, and Preambles and Besolutions; 
but, like a good physician, it watches the state of 
the patient, and casts Nosology to the dogs when 
the symptoms require it. When we entered the 
party we were radicals, and half Abolitionists, and 
found inscribed on its banner, '''The tvorld is too 
much governed! " Now, we are sure the conviction 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 371 

has fastened itself on the heart of every good citi- 
zen, that "the world is too little governed." 

The true and honorable distinction of the Demo- 
cratic party is, that it has but one unbending prin- 
ciple — "The safety of the people is the supreme 
law." To this party we think the Nation and the 
North may confidently look for a happy exodus 
from our difficulties. It is pure, honest, active and 
patriotic now, and will continue so as long as the 
dark cloud of Abolition and Socialism lowers and 
threatens at the North. Long and quiet possession 
of power will be sure to corrupt it. It will be 
then time to cast it aside. It is now able, and it 
alone is able, to grapple with and strangle the trea- 
sons of the North. 

"Times change, and men cliange "with them." 

Good and brave men are proud, not ashamed, of 
&uch changes. Let no false pride of seeming con- 
sistency deter us from an avowal, which omitted, 
may trammel and impede our action. 

Our old Nosology is an effective arsenal and ar- 
mory for the most ultra Abolitionists, and the more 
effective, because we have not formally repudiated 
it. Let '^The tvorld is too little governed'' be 
adopted as our motto, inscribed upon our flag and 
run up to the mast-head. 

jv^OTE. — We learn that many of the old Federalists of 
the North, and some of the South, are joining our ranks. 



372 CANNIBALS ALL; OR, 

We welcome them. Thejr principles were wrong wlieu 
thej adopted them, but (barring their consolidation doc- 
triiies) will answer pretty well now. It was ever the 
misfortune of the old Federal party and the lately de- 
ceased Whig party, to be right at the wrong time. They 
were, as the doctors say, nosological and not pathological 
in practice. The Whig party of England, like the Dem- 
ocratic party of America, is eminently pathological, ac- 
tive, observant and impressible. 



SLAVES AVITIIOUT MASTERS. 373 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

ADDENDUM. 

Virginia, Nov. 18, 1856. 
Wm. Lloyd Garrison, Esq. : 

Dear Sir — I have observed so much fairness in 
the manner in which slavery and other sociological ques- 
tions are treated in The Liberator, that it has occurred 
to me you would not consider suggestions from an ultra 
pro-slavery man obtrusive, and might deem them worth 
a place in your columns. I shall not promise that the 
example of your liberality will be followed at the South. 
It is a theory of mine, that " recurrence to fundamental 
principles" is only treason clothed in periphrastic phrase; 
and that the right of private judgment, liberty of the 
press, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion, are 
subordinate to these '^ principles," and must not be al- 
lowed to assail them, — else there can be no stability in 
government, or security of private rights. The South 
thinks me heretical, but feels that I am right, and takes 
care to trammel these sacred rights quite as efficiently by 
an austere public opinion, as Louis Napoleon does by law 
or by mere volition. 

I entirely concur in a theory I heard Mr. Wendell 



874 CANNIBALS ALL ; OR, 

PhillijDs''' propound in a lecture at New Haven. I shall 
not attempt to give his eloquent words, for I am incapa- 
ble of doing justice to his language; but the amount of 
his theory was, that governments are not formed by man, 
but are the gradual accretions of time, circumstance, and 
human exigencies; that they grow up like trees, and 
that man may cultivate, train and aid their growth and 
development, but cannot make them out and out. Now, 
I accept the theory, and propose, in the jBrst place, to 
deter men from applying the axe to the root of our 
Southern institutions, (that is, discussing or recuriing 
to '^fundamental principles,") by moral suasion or moni- 
tion ; next, by tar and feathers, and, that failing, by the 
halter. The worst institutions that ever greio up in any 
country are better than the best that philosophers or 
philanthropists ever devised. As for ours, we deem 
them, since the days of Rome, Athens and Judea, the 
crack institutions of the world. 

With these preliminary remarks, I will make the fol- 
lowing suggestions or interrogations : — 

Is not slavery to capital less tolerable than slavery to 
human masters? 

Where a few, as in England, Ireland and Scotland, 
own all the lands, are not the mass, the common laborers. 



* Mr. Phillips is, in private life, aside from his abolition and 
sectional prejudices, a worthy, accomplished gentleman. He is 
the most eloquent and graceful speaker to whom we ever lis- 
tened. He seems to distill manna and ambrosia from his lips, 
but is all the while firing whole broadsides of hot shot. "He 
is his own antithesis" — an infernal machine set to music. 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 375 

wto own no capital, and possess neither mechanical nor 
professional skill, of necessity, the slaves to capital? 

Was it not this slavery to capital that occasioned the 
great Irish famine, and is it not this same slavery that 
keeps the large majority of the laboring class in Western 
Europe in a state of hereditary starvation ? 

In old societies, where the laborers are domestic slaves, 
and exceed in number the demand for labor, would not 
emancipating them subject them at once to a mastery, or 
exacting despotism of capital, far more oppressive than 
domestic slavery ? 

Did not the emancipation of European serfs, or vil- 
liens, in all instances, injure their condition as a class? 

In the event of the occurrence of such excess of do- 
mestic slaves, would it not be more merciful to follow the 
Spartan plan, and kill the surplus, than the abolition 
plan, which sets them all free, to live on half allowance, 
and to "make free labor cheaper than slave labor," by 
this fierce competition and underbidding to get employ- 
ment? 

Are there not fewer checks to superior wit, skill and 
capital, and less of protection afforded to the weak, igno- 
rant and landless mass in' Northern society, than in any 
other ever devised by the wit of man ? 

Is not ^'■laissez-faire,'' in English, "Every man for 
himself, and devil take the hindmost," your whole theory 
and practice of government ? 

When your society grows older, your population more 
dense, and property, by your trading, speculating and 
commercial habits, sets into a few hands, will not the 



376 CANNIBALS ALL; OR., 

slavery to capital be more complete and unmitigated than 
in any part of Europe, where a throne, a nobility and 
established church, stand between the bosses, bankers 
and landlords, and the oppressed masses? 

Do not almost all well-informed men of a philosophical 
turn of mind in Western Europe and our North, concur 
in opinion that the whole framework of society, religious, 
ethical, economic, legal and political, requires radical 
change ? 

Is not the absence of such opinion at the South, and 
its prevalence in free society, conclusive proof of the 
naturalness and necessity of domestic slavery? 

Would not the North be willing to leave the settlement 
of the slavery question in Kansas to the public opinion 
of Christendom, (for it will be settled by all Christen- 
dom, of whom not one in a hundred will be slavehold- 
ers,) if it were not sensible that public opinion was about 
to decide in favor of negro slavery, and, therefore, that it 
must be forstalled by Federal legislation ? 

A Southerner. 

Since our vrork was in the press, the above has 
appeared in the Liberator. We embrace the occa- 
sion to thank Mr. Garrison for his courtesy, and to 
make a few remarks that we hope will not be 
deemed ill-timed or impertinent. 

A comparison of opinions and of institutions be- 
tween North and South will lead to kinder and 
more pacific relations. Hitherto, such comparisons 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 377 

could not be made, because the South believed her- 
self wrong, weak and defenceless; and that Abo- 
lition was but an attempt to apply the brand to 
the explosive materials of her social edifice. She 
is now equally confident of her justice and her 
strength, and believes her social system more 
stable, as well as more benevolent, equitable and 
natural, than that of the North. Whilst she will 
never tolerate radical ao-itation and demao-ofruical 
propagandism, she is ready for philosophical argu- 
ment and discussion, and for historical and statis- 
tical comparison. 

A Southerner employs the term ^' discussion," 
as equivalent to agitation ; for the South does 
not proscribe the discussion of any subject, by 
proper persons, at proper places, and on pro- 
per occasions. (AVho are proper persons, and 
what proper times and places, must be left to a 
healthy, just and enlightened public opinion to de- 
termine.) But men shall not lecture our children, 
in the streets, on the beauties of infidelity : parsons 
shall not preach politics from the pulpit; women 
shall not crop the petticoat, mount the rostrum, and 
descant on the purity of Free Love ; incendiaries 
shall not make speeches against the right of land- 
holders, nor teach our negroes the sacred doctrines 
of liberty and equsL\itj,^^'<^v^^^'^^"i; Xi^SS^ ^ 

We are satisfied with our Institutions, and are 



878 CANNIBALS ALL; OR 

not willing to sul3mit them to the "experimentum in 
vile corpus!" If the North thinks her own worth- 
less, or only valuable as subjects for anatomical 
dissection, or chemical and phrenological experi- 
ments, she may advance the cause of humanity, 
by treating her people as philosophers do mice and 
hares and dead frogs. We think her case not so 
desperate as to authorize such reckless experiment- 
ation. Though her experiment has failed, she is 
not yet dead. There is a way still open for 
recovery. 

As we are a Brother Socialist, we have a right 
to prescribe for the patient; and our Consulting 
Brethren, Messrs. Garrison, Greely, and others, 
should duly consider the value of our opinion. 
Extremes meet — and we and the leading Abolition- 
ists differ but a hairbreadth. We, like Carlyle, 
prescribe more of government ; they insist on No- 
Government. Yet their social institutions would 
make excellently conducted Southern sugar and 
cotton farms, with a head to govern them. Add a 
Virginia overseer to Mr. Greely's Phalansteries, 
and Mr. Greely and we would have little to quarrel 
about. 

We have a lively expectation that when our 
Cannibals make their entree, " Our Masters in the 
art of War" will greet them with applause, instead 
of hisses ; with a " feu de joie," or gratulatory 



SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS. 379 

salute, instead of a inurderous broadside. We want 
to be friends with them and with all the world ; 
and, as the curtain is falling, we conclude with the 
valedictory and invocation of the Roman actor — 
^'Vosvalete! etplaudite!" 



THE END. 




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